Building a Resilient Health System: Costa Rica’s 80 Year Experiment

Román Macaya Hayes, executive president of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, joined Katherine E. Bliss for a conversation on how Costa Rica has prioritized the equitable delivery of primary health care services to reduce infant and maternal mortality, achieve a high level of vaccine coverage, increase life expectancy, and build trust in the health system. He explained how the country’s network of locally-based health workers develop personal connections with the people and communities they serve, even as they use digital technologies to gather household data, assess trends, and allocate resources. He also described how ensuring the population’s access to affordable and high-quality care has helped Costa Rica weather the pandemic and effectively deliver Covid-19 vaccines and shared what he sees as opportunities for the Fund to grow and evolve its delivery of services to the Costa Rican people in the years ahead. You can watch the event here.