“All people have the right to the promotion of physical health and mental health, prevention, recovery, rehabilitation and access to services at different levels of care and scenarios, as well as to the availability of treatment and medicines of proven quality”.
– Article 9 of Costa Rica’s General Health Law No. 5395
Health is one of the most important conditions of every human being, all people need the necessary resources to maintain it, from education and health promotion to the follow-up and treatment of their needs, in order to have an optimal quality of life for their own performance and in their daily life.
For this reason, all people residing in Costa Rica have access to health services without discrimination, which makes it possible to respond to the needs of all stages of human being’s. However, with the interventions that the health area of the Roblealto Association carries out with families that enter the different programs, we have been able to demonstrate a percentage of families, both foreign and national, who are unaware of this right, which is why we provide them with advice so that they can manage it in the health services of the C.C.S.S., according to their place of residence. In this way, we ensure that families and their children exercise their rights to health, thus obtaining medical care and treatment to their needs.
As health professionals we have the great task of educating the different populations on the proper use of health services that our country offers, that despite the limitations due to the high demand that currently exists, it is a very valuable system that few countries have today, especially for the most vulnerable population with few opportunities, so we are all responsible for taking care of it and seeing it as a benefit for our physical and mental health.
It is worth mentioning that in recent years there has been evidence of a number of diseases that have affected the general population, due to unhealthy lifestyles and genetic factors, which has increased care and saturation in health services and unfortunately this affects the overall health of people, in addition to the population refusing to use health services, leaving aside their self-care.
Therefore, it is important to create awareness in the beneficiary population about the responsible use of these services, recognizing their duties such as timely attendance to scheduled appointments, the correct use of medications provided by the facility, complying with the recommendations established by the health authorities in terms of public health and informing staff about any risk situation that affects their health, as well as the great responsibility that parents and caregivers have with the health of their children, being promoters and examples for their actions in the future.
Health is our responsibility, but also having a health system where we have access to preventive programs to strengthen healthy habits is a privilege, because it allows us to create our own tools for our self-care, reaching new generations that will repeat what they see us doing with attentive eyes.
By Mónica González, General Supervisor of Nursery, Roblealto Association
