Ecuador Health Profile 2012

Social safety nets A social security network called the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) offers health services, pensions and loans. However, it suffers from financial problems, and its coverage of health services is rather centralized in large urban centers. The IESS primarily covers workers within the formal sector of the economy. There is also a Peasant Social Security System which deals with rural workers under a different regime. The police and armed forces have their own social security systems, which, according to statements made by associations of retired officers, are on the verge of breaking down. This has been denied by the government, however. With the new constitution, social security coverage has been in theory widened to the whole population, but the necessary mechanisms, infrastructure and resources that would turn this right into a reality have not yet been put in place. In terms of attention for more vulnerable sectors (the poor, the disabled, the elderly and single mothers), apart from a public health system that has serious limitations, there are indirect subsidies for products such as fuels or electricity and direct subsidies such as the so-called Human Development Bond, which consists of a monthly payment of $30 per family.

Equal opportunity One of the principal limitations to equal opportunity in Ecuador is the structure of exclusion with roots deep in the country’s history, based on ethnic and social differences. Women and the indigenous population in particular suffer from limited access to participation in society. The Ecuadorian government has increased investment in sectors such as education and health with the aim of improving opportunities in the mid- to long term. There are special programs for women and children in poverty, and against racial discrimination. In December 2008, the Ministry of Social Welfare was renamed by decree to the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, thus symbolically manifesting the government’s programmatic approach to social policies.