While conditions surrounding the pandemic in the U.S. appear more encouraging with each passing day, the same cannot be said about Ecuador and many other low-income countries. Latin America has been hit disproportionately hard compared to other regions of the world. During the past two months, public hospitals have once again filled to capacity,
The pandemic has revealed much about healthcare systems, health inequalities, and social determinants of health, such as poverty, geography, language, culture, education and employment. While tragic, many of these issues come as no surprise. In Ecuador, it appears that some of our hardest hit populations have been poor, undereducated, non-Spanish-speaking indigenous communities in the countryside.
Is the worst of COVID-19 behind us? We would all like to believe that it is. Vaccine candidates are close to distribution, and there are some treatments that hold promise. But numbers continue to rise at an alarming rate in the US, and hospitals are once again filling beyond capacity. Read Winter 2020 News Here
From the Field The challenges of COVID faced by poor communities in Ecuador seem worlds apart from those in the United States. So many people here live hand to mouth and simply can’t afford not to work. And most jobs put them face to face with many people, continuously exposing them to the virus. The
From the Field
As in the U.S., life has changed considerably in Ecuador since the Coronavirus pandemic hit. In this newsletter, we hope to give you a better idea of what has happened here, tell some patient stories to illustrate the challenges, and explain our response as a regional health care provider within the broader Ecuadorian context.
While watching events unfold in the U.S., we are struck by both the similarities and the differences in the political, medical, and the community’s response to the pandemic between these two countries.
Empowering Women Everyday: Didn’t you notice?
A donor came to Ecuador a while back to see our hospitals and clinics in action. As with many of our visitors, she was duly impressed. But she added, “David, you never told me how many women you have working here. This is incredible!”
We have had so many women working here for such a long time that I never stopped to think about how that might look to a visitor…
Long Road from Quito, a book about the inspiring journey of Dr. David Gaus and Andean Health & Development is written by Tony Hiss. Hiss is the author of 13 books and was a staff writer at the New Yorker for 30 years.
Check out a review by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene
Listen to an interview with Dr. David Gaus and author Tony Hiss on Wisconsin Public Radio