Published in El Pais, 15 June 2020.
The COVID-19 models clearly showed that the quarantine in Bolivia was not efficient and it was seen that the number of cases and deaths was going to rise. If the government took its role seriously and listened to epidemiological experts, they would have known it. And they would have increased capacity in hospitals and cemeteries, but they did not.
Now they have realized that the hospitals have collapsed, and Interior Minister Murillo wants to resolve it by expropriating private hospitals such as Univalle and Udabol. He thinks that with this he will save lives, but he is wrong. The problem is simple. Beds and intensive care units (ICUs) are lacking in hospitals. How does he think the number of beds will change, spending millions to nationalize something that already exists? Does he really think that after this exercise the number of beds will mysteriously increase? And only in two cities and not in the rest of the country? In this way not more people will be saved. All public and private hospitals are already full!
The reality of numbers has been ignored for more than four months and now nothing better occurs to them than a socialist measure where the only recipe for solving problems is to nationalize something. The ability to create, build and maintain something on your own does not exist and must be taken away from entrepreneurs. The purchase of respirators at a normal price was not successful without corruption and instead of increasing the available number of beds and ICUs, they will now only change owners, maintaining the problem of lack of hospital capacity and ignoring all other cities in the country.
Many countries have regulated access to private hospitals, regulating the price, preventing people from self-medicating and controlling with testing and hospitalization protocols. All under the same vision of emergency COVID-19, but never buying a hospital. Until now, the government has decided on procedures without an epidemiological or scientific basis. This was a time to show strong governance, take control and seek expert advice from universities and hospitals to create a team that defines what needs to be done at the national level for the first level, second level and third level. Bolivia has collapsed due to a lack of rigid protocols and a well-functioning reference system. They have to reorganize quickly to make it more efficient, but they decide to waste time in the bureaucracy of an expropriation.
Nationalizing is a bad idea; it deepens legal insecurity for large and small investments (rent issue). As it is highly likely that COVID-19 is going to be around 5 more months in Bolivia, what the government has to do is buy more beds, more equipment, generate spaces, train personnel. Make protocols for people to heal at home and go to the hospital when necessary. Generate a single voice based on epidemiology. It is better to copy what countries like Uruguay have done that have quickly defeated COVID-19 through a coordinated and protocol-based system for the entire health system (public, private and safe), increasing the necessary medicines for COVID-19 . If someone requires hospitalization, the bill is paid by the government because that is true access to health.
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