Day 3 of exploring Buenos Aires! Our day started out with meeting Dr. Daniel Ferrante, current Deputy of Minister of Health of CABA, then we met with Dr. Luis Scervino, past Superintendent of Health and current director of the Obra Social de Obras Sanitarias. After lunch we went on a tour of La Boca, San Telmo, and Plaza de Mayo.
When meeting with Dr. Ferrante we learned about how the city of Buenos Aires handles advancing their healthcare system. One philosophy that is shared by everyone in Argentina is that health is a human right, so everyone should have access to it. He shared that the Covid-19 pandemic helped facilitate the implementation of technology like BOTI, a chatbot used to make vaccine appointments and is now used to make everyday appointments. One challenge that is faced is the salary gap between nurses and physicians this provoke conflict within work force environments, along with inflation also playing a role.
Dr. Scervino helped improve our understanding of the complicated and fragmented system, but clarified most of our understanding on the Obra Social. He informed us that only 17 million people out of the total 47 million living in Argentina use only the public health care coverage. This is because they cannot afford anything else. After he finished is discussion he pointed out that there is more coverage provided than there is people. This is because of people who have two or three forms of coverage. This is a waste of resources and there needs to be a solution to stop the waste.
The most exciting part the day (sorry Grant, the lectures were fun too) was our bus tour of La Boca, San Telmo, and Plaza de Mayo. Our first stop on the bus tour was La Boca. La Boca is colorful area, home to Boca Juniors soccer team. Here we started our shopping journey. Some friends picked up some Lionel Messi jerseys, but I opted to get a Buenos Aires t-shirt and a shot glass with the comic strip character, Mafalda. We then boarded the bus again to head over to San Telmo. We visited the Plaza Dorrego, famous for its flea market that lines the streets every Sunday. We also looked around some shops and markets while here. Our last stop for the day was Plaza de Mayo. Here we got to see the historic Pink House and watch the ceremony of the soldiers take down the national Argentina flag.
Today was filled with knowledge and adventure. I learned about so many important cultural and political philosophies, buildings, and history. Everyone is exhausted after our full days of activities, but we keep moving cause of all the fun we have and know what we is in our future. That’s all for today. I’ll be checking back in tomorrow!