{"id":21391,"date":"2021-07-29T04:56:11","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T04:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adra.org\/?p=21391"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:15:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:15:24","slug":"colombia-healthy-lives-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/colombia-healthy-lives-for-all","title":{"rendered":"Colombia: Vidas sanas para todos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"522\" src=\"https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ana-Cecilia-Alvarado-002-1024x522.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21392\" srcset=\"https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ana-Cecilia-Alvarado-002-1024x522.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ana-Cecilia-Alvarado-002-300x153.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ana-Cecilia-Alvarado-002-768x391.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ana-Cecilia-Alvarado-002.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ana fled Venezuela after she wasn&#8217;t able to get the medical care she needed. ADRA connected her with urgent medical assistance as part of their work with migrants in Colombia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Every person on Earth is born with the right to a healthy life. So many factors have a direct effect on our health, and often <strong>the difference between a long life of good health and a life of chronic illness or early death comes down to <\/strong><strong>access<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we lack consistent access to unpolluted air, nutritious food, clean water, appropriate hygiene and sanitation resources, and a safe space to be active, our health will suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, of course, we can\u2019t talk about the correlation between access and healthy lives without talking about one of the biggest factors: access to quality, affordable healthcare close to home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine not being able to take your child to a doctor when they are sick. Imagine having no emergency care for a broken bone. Imagine walking for miles while in labor because there is no maternity care nearby!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are Helping<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to ADRA supporters, close to <strong>6 million people <\/strong>saw improved access to healthcare in 2020!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So, what happens when you need a doctor or a hospital in a place where that\u2019s not an option?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Health risks of every kind, including COVID-19, escalate dangerously without access to medical care.<\/strong> These risks disproportionately impact the world\u2019s poorest and most vulnerable because the communities they call home are less likely to have adequate health facilities and trained health workers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When people don\u2019t have the resources for proper diagnosis and treatment, <strong>many turn to self-medicating in an attempt to ease their own ailments or save their own lives<\/strong>. This can lead to adverse reactions, prolonged symptoms, addiction, or other serious risks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Displaced populations, including migrants and refugees, often go without critical physical and mental healthcare<\/strong> because they lack access to traditional facilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Millions of children and young people die every year<\/strong> in low-income countries due to easily preventable causes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ana\u2019s Experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All Ana needed was a simple gallbladder surgery.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The procedure is considered routine in other parts of the world, with more than a million gallbladder surgeries being performed in the United States alone every year. But, Ana lived in Venezuela and the <strong>local hospitals lacked even the most basic surgical supplies <\/strong>needed for the routine procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because she wasn\u2019t able to get the treatment she urgently needed, Ana turned to self-medicating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI lived very critical moments in Venezuela. I didn\u2019t have a job, I didn\u2019t have food, in fact. I was sick with my gallbladder,\u201d Ana told us. \u201cWhile there, <strong>I was twice in the operating room to have surgery, but they sent me back because the necessary surgical materials had not arrived<\/strong>. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deterioration of her health was the final factor that pushed Ana to leave Venezuela and emigrate to Colombia with her grandson. <strong>They became two of the 5.4 million people who have fled the country in recent years <\/strong>due to insecurity, violence, and severe shortages of food, medical supplies, and other essential services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With so many people leaving, Ana and her grandson struggled to secure seats on a bus, but after several attempts, they were able to reach the city of Medell\u00edn where Ana\u2019s daughter was located.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her health continued to deteriorate further. She began to suffer from chronic gastritis, colic, and asthma, but she continued to self-medicate as much as she could afford.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seeing Ana\u2019s suffering, <strong>a friend recommended that she contact ADRA who were known to be providing healthcare support to those displaced from Venezuela <\/strong>in Colombia. ADRA field staff were quick to schedule a medical appointment for Ana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe day they called me, I was very sick. I had colic, I was vomiting, I went to various places to be treated, but since I did not have the [official documentation], they could not,\u201d said Ana.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ADRA\u2019s project utilized Seventh-day Adventist health facilities and resources across Colombia to reach migrants from Venezuela with the urgent physical and mental healthcare they need. <strong>For those who aren\u2019t able to reach a medical facility, or who may be wary without documentation, ADRA meets them where they are with mobile health clinics<\/strong> along the paths the migrants follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ADRA was able to help Ana obtain the basic medical attention she needed to control her gallbladder condition and put her days of self-medicating behind her. <\/strong>At her very first appointment, the doctor prescribed appropriate medication and ordered tests and further treatment. Ana was able to continue visiting the clinic weekly until her health improved.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI no longer have asthma, I do not have back pain, thanks to all the treatment they controlled the complications I had, and they diagnosed me with gallstones,\u201d Ana reported. \u201cI felt that I was dying, I sought help by all means, but only ADRA took care of me. I am very happy because they helped me to move forward.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>References &amp; Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/sites\/reliefweb.int\/files\/resources\/whs-2021_20may.pdf\">https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/sites\/reliefweb.int\/files\/resources\/whs-2021_20may.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/health\">https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/health<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/en-us\/venezuela-emergency.html\">https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/en-us\/venezuela-emergency.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:104px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Todas las personas de la Tierra nacen con derecho a una vida sana. Son muchos los factores que influyen directamente en nuestra salud, y a menudo la diferencia entre una larga vida de buena salud y una vida de enfermedades cr\u00f3nicas o muerte prematura se reduce al acceso.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[615,806,284,1052,798],"tags":[1094,774,690],"class_list":["post-21391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-colombia","category-health","category-inter-america","category-venezuela","tag-adventist-health","tag-covid-19","tag-protection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21391"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45859,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391\/revisions\/45859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}