MINSA (Ministerio de Salud) is the Peruvian Ministry of Health. Their mission is to protect personal dignity, promote health, prevent disease and ensure comprehensive health care for all inhabitants of the country. MINSA is responsible for proposing health policy guidelines in consultation with all public sectors and social actors and to ensure that health care is accessible.
The Ministry of Health is dedicated to providing every Peruvian with the opportunity to receive health care. During the early 1990's, MINSA began reviewing the conditions of both urban and rural health facilities. Not surprisingly, most of the medical centers were situated in and around Lima. As a result for every 400 people in Lima there was one doctor, however, in the northern part of the country it was one doctor for every 12000 people.
The members of MINSA decided that they had to start implementing a program that would ensure that anyone who needs to receive medical attention will receive it. This goal was not easy to achieve as over 70 percent of Peruvians live at or below the poverty line. As an attempt to try and make health care more accessible MINSA launched Peru's HealthCare Policy which would provide free or low cost health care to low socio-economic individuals
This placement needs volunteer as :
This small medical center caters to over 6000 people, most of whom are in relatively poor health due to lack of nutrition and access to medical care. In addition, the Puesto de Salud Jose Olaya is seriously understaffed, having only one doctor, one nurse, two technicians, and a part-time obstetrician and a part-time pediatrician. There are simply not enough people working there to help all those who need it.
Volunteers can assist by doing the following tasks:
Sit in on patient-nurse appointments. Since it is a public heath type placement you will see mostly nutrition problems, child development and pregnancy issues.
-Assist triage: this includes everything from weighing patients to measuring their height to taking their blood pressure.
-Assist in the administration of the vaccination campaigns.
Other tasks that you may be requested to preform outside of your core duties:
Devise presentations or workshops on topics such as HIV, pregnancy, sexual health, tuberculosis, or hygiene.
Volunteers with the following specific skills are preferred for this placement :
Doctor
Nurse
Medical Student
Pre-Med Student
Emergency Medical Technician
Health & Hygiene Training
HIV/AIDS Awareness Training
Medical Administration
Public Health
Basecamp International welcomes all the interested volunteers from around the world to volunteer and make a difference. If you are interested in this placement then please contact us for the details:
Email: info@basecampcenters.com
Website: www.basecampcenters.com
Mailing Address
298 Bagot Street,
Kingston, Ontario,
Canada, K7K 3B4.
Phone: 613.541.7862
Toll Free : 866.646 .4693
Fax: 613.541.1604
