Another full day in Buenos Aires! Today our adventure started off with a very exciting visit to the city government house to have a talk with the current Deputy Minister of Health of CABA: Dr. Daniel Ferrante. Similar to Dr. Gimenez, he stressed the importance of their goal to increase primary care in Argentina. Buenos Aires has 3 million people, with 34 hospitals and only 17 primary care centers. The culture of specialization of doctors in Argentina has become a major problem, as citizens are going to hospitals for mild, non-emergency health symptoms. They cannot stop this problem due to the fact that healthcare is a constitutional right in Argentina. This information answered my main question about why there is such a lack of primary care in the country. It was a great privilege to meet Dr. Ferrante and go inside the beautiful government building, and I really enjoyed that experience.
Our second speaker was Dr. Luis Scervino, who is the current Director of Obras Sanitarias and was the past Superintendent of Health. Here we learned how organized labor plays a huge role in the Argentine healthcare system. It is a normal part of life in Argentina to have to wait extremely long hours for free healthcare, as we saw a long line for dental care on the street today. However, this creates a problem because people have to skip work in order to go to receive care. Unions can help solve this issue by paying for private care to skip the wait for healthcare and still attend work. Being a part of a union in Argentina represents power, and that power can get you money, which can get you better healthcare. By having 9% of your salary go to your union, that money is helping to pay for higher quality care. Healthcare access is available for everyone, but being a part of a work union insures that you get healthcare coverage as well.
After lunch, we had a bus tour of the city of Buenos Aires, and made stops at La Boca and a local market to do some shopping and exploring. The bus ride was a bit prolonged due to traffic, but we got some great information from our tour guide. She told us about the high population of immigrants, especially from Italy. Additionally, the people loved the European-style buildings, so they were inspired to build some here in Buenos Aires. It was nice to get some walking in and relax and enjoy the culture of Argentina. We bought some local goods such as leather, artwork, soccer jerseys, and jewelry.
We also ended up seeing the traditional ceremony where the guards take down the Argentine flag, which was very cool to see. Overall, today was a great day that mixed school activities with cultural activities.
