Each health sector institution in Ecuador maintains its own organization, management and private financing schemes, without existing mechanisms for articulation and inter-institutional coordination. This has not made it possible to join efforts and resources to develop a national proposal of coverage and quality of health services. As a consequence, the fundamental purpose of the sectoral policy included in the Constitutional reform (current since 1998) entails organizing a National Health System. The Ministry of Public Health (MPH) is charged with functions of regulation, management, and control of the sector.

Health System Profile of Ecuador

The second edition of the Profile was prepared by a group of 31 professionals and national policymakers representing the Ministry of Health, the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute, Rural Social Security, the Metropolitan District of Quito, the Cancer Society SOLCA-MANABI), the CIMAS Foundation, the Ecuadorian Health Foundation, the Center for Population Studies, the APS-FENOCIN Project, the Catholic University [of Ecuador], the Central University of Ecuador, the Simón Bolívar Andean University, the University of Cuenca, the University of Loja, the National Health Council, UNICEF, GTZ, the European Union, and the PAHO/WHO Representative Office/Ecuador. The PAHO/WHO Representative Office in Ecuador served as technical coordinator for the national group. The Association of Ecuadorian Schools of Medicine and Health Sciences (AFEME) was commissioned to conduct the external review. Final review, edition, and translation are the responsibility of the Health Systems and Policies Unit, PAHO/WHO, Washington, DC.

---

Ecuador Country Profile - Health in the Americas, 2007
Link to Ecuador Ministry of Health
Link to PAHO/WHO country office in Ecuador