Peru Ministry of Health administrative crisis

Peru’s Minister of Health, Luis Dyer Fernández, has identified a severe administrative and technological crisis within the Ministry of Health (MINSA). The minister described the ministry’s current technology as comparable to the mid-1990s, noting that a significant portion of the country’s 7,000 health facilities lack internet access and rely on paper-based procedures.

These deficiencies have led to critical delays in patient care, including medical appointments delayed by up to four months and surgeries by up to eight months. Additionally, the minister highlighted mismanagement of medical supplies, specifically citing S/49 million worth of syringes purchased during the pandemic that remain in storage and the rental of a broken MRI machine.

In response, the ministry has launched a 100-day plan to digitize operations and modernize the drug-regulation agency, Digemid. The reform strategy aims to replace manual paperwork with digital platforms to improve the evaluation and supervision of medicines, strengthen controls against counterfeit products, and optimize the medical supply chain. The minister also indicated intentions to work with the Contraloría to investigate potential irregularities.