While in 2012, the number of teenage pregnancies represented 19.4%, on 2017 this indicator went down to 14.7% , the lowest percentage ever registered in the country. According to doctor Nineth Alarcón from the Comprehensive Care Program for Teens of the Social Security Service (C.C.S.S.) this is a very satisfactory achievement resulting from the efforts carried out to bring down the number of...

The National Employee Union of the Social Security Service (Undeca) posted a press release on their social media channels in which they qualify the hiring of private laundry services by the Costa Rica Health Authorities (CCSS) as “illegal”. “The desperate actions of the authorities of Caja (CCSS), that arranged the hiring of private companies and external workers without any training to replace...

The 15th edition of the Ross Foundation Walk and Run Against Cancer in Costa Rica will take place Sunday, October 7 starting at 8 a.m. at Paseo Colon, San Jose. Like every year, this initiative expects to gather the attention of thousands of people, raising awareness on breast cancer and other forms of this illness that affect many Costa Ricans every year. The 2km walk is completely free an...

What is full mouth reconstruction? "Full mouth reconstruction"  or "Full Mouth Restoration"  implies rebuilding the entire area, in other words, replacing all teeth in a patient’s mouth with the purpose of eliminating tooth decay or infections, replacing missing pieces, correcting improper bite that affects the quality of life, but in general with the objective of improving overall oral health...

According to the estimations of the National Institute of Census and Statistics (Spanish acronym: INEC) Costa Rica will receive its 5th million citizen at around 9:27 p.m. The Social Security Service (C.C.S.S.) is ready to inform of all births registered in the country’s hospitals between 9:20 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The calculations of INEC are based solely on births and deaths in the country, i...

Violence and abandonment are the reality that hundreds of senior citizens face in Costa Rica. Many of the cases of abandonment occur in the public hospitals, situation that complicates even more the crowded system that already suffers with the number of beds available. Last year a total 127 senior citizens were abandoned in hospitals according to the Social Security system (CCSS); the elderly i...

In the past weeks several cases of Hepatitis A reported in four communities have raised the alert of the health authorities in Costa Rica. The cases were reported in the counties of Alajuelita, Los Yoses, Tibas and Goicoechea, all of them in San Jose. The Ministry of Public Health has stated that all cases are under control and the patients have made a satisfactory recovery so far, however, th...

Dental Tourism is a growing business in Costa Rica and throughout the last few years more dental clinics have seen the opportunity this represents and have made investments and efforts to offer better and more complete services that meet the expectations of the foreign patients. Foreigners interested in dental tourism usually have a lot of questions about the level of service they will receive,...

Epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica is one of the major forms of epidermolysis bullosa, an illness that causes fragile, blistering skin, that may appear in response to minor injury; these blisters also occur inside the body, the illness has no cure and patients with the condition usually don’t leave past 15-16 years of age. It’s an inherited condition. Costa Rican Diana Ojeda surpassed the life...

Costa Rica has become an important destination in the medical tourism and wellness sectors, rehab treatment programs are one of the services that foreigners seek in this Central American country. Costa Rica offers many advantages for foreigners looking for drug rehab programs, its closeness to North American countries, it’s many natural beauties that help heal the spirit, the fact that treatmen...

Costa Rica is known to be a peaceful country covered in green nature and is also one of the happiest countries in the world, these are part of the reasons why the country has become an important destination for wellness and medical tourism including drug and alcohol treatment centers. Drug and alcohol addiction is a growing problem everywhere in the world, on the road to recovery many choose to...

The Social Security Service (CCSS) in Costa Rica revealed that the institution invested over $246 thousand (USD) on the attention of Samuel one of the former siamese twins that underwent a separation surgery back in February 23, 2018 which extender for about 18 hours. “The data comes from an analysis carried out by the subarea of Hospital Expenses of the Financial Management, in which variables...

The Ministry of Health in Costa Rica signed this Monday afternoon a sanitary alert for malaria due to the increase in the number of cases reported in the country “imported” from Nicaragua, Panama, South America and Africa. The purpose of the alert is to raise awareness among the population and educate them on the characteristics and symptoms of this disease. Costa Rica has maintained the e...

A two-year-old girl and a 50-year-old woman share the liver of one donator after a successful split liver transplantation that was carried out by Costa Rican physicians in two hospitals in the country. A split liver transplantation involves taking the liver of a donor and dividing it to be transplanted into two patients. This procedure, performed two weeks ago (May 23), was the first of its ...

On May 24th The Word Health Assembly, approved an initiative promoted by the governments of Costa Rica and Colombia, along with the support of the Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP) branch of the University of Costa Rica. The ICP aims to take global action to bring down the number of deaths caused by snakebites. According to the documentary “Minutes to Die: Snakebite – The World’s Ignored Health ...

The Foundation Pro Unit of Palliative Care in Costa Rica received this Friday the Sasakawa Health Prize given by the World Health Organization, during a ceremony celebrated in Geneva, Switzerland. “The Sasakawa Health Prize consists of a statuette and a sum of money to be given to one or more persons, institutions or nongovernmental organizations having accomplished outstanding innovative work ...

Ezequiel and Samuel Nuñez, the Costa Rican siamese twins who underwent a separation surgery at the National Children’s Hospital three months ago are almost ready to leave the hospital. The twins who are now 2 years and 5 months old have slowly made progress to the point that Samuel could be going back home as early as next week; Ezequiel still requires to get some infections under control but c...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the population in the American continent has won 16 years of life in average in the last 45 years; today, life expectancy in this region is of 75 years. BBC launched a calculator that shows a person’s life expectancy based on the country you were born in, and using this tool and analyzing the results for Latin America, Costa Rica is in the firs...

Cosmetic surgeries are performed every day in Costa Rica and around the world, in fact, these type of surgeries attract many medical tourists to the country since it has earned a name for the high quality of its medical services at a much cheaper rate than in North America; however, every surgery has its risks, cosmetic surgeries are not the exception. A study carried out by the University of C...

According to data by the Regional Institute of Studies of Toxic Substances (IRET) of the National University (UNA) in Costa Rica, the country uses on average an alarming 18.2 kilograms of pesticides per hectare of cropland. The information, published by local newspaper Semanario Universidad, establishes that when compared to other countries, Costa Rica takes first place in the world, followed b...

Costa Rica has a number of factors that make it a very attractive destination for medical tourism, and in particular for dental tourism. According to the National Health Chamber (Promed), close to 45% of foreign tourists that visit the country for medical tourism do so seeking quality dental care. Their statistics show that the majority of this tourists are adults over 45 years-of–age visiting ...

According to data by the Social Security Service (CCSS), a total 26 thousand children and teens under 15 years of age in Costa Rica required medical attention in 2017 as a result of obesity. Grace Murillo Loaiza, national coordinator of Nutrition of the CCSS, the statistics are alarming. 85.8% of the patients were between the ages of 5 and 14. Health authorities call on parents and educators...

The Costa Rican Social Security Agency (C.C.S.S.) will kick start its yearly massive vaccination campaign against influenza this May. In total, the health authority will be a applying 1.3 million vaccines giving priority to children, senior citizens over 60 years of age and high risk population which includes diabetics, patients with heart conditions, pregnant women, cancer patients or those th...

Costa Rica is already positioned as one of the preferred choices for North Americans as a medical and dental tourism destination , it is known that the treatments most commonly sought in the country are esthetic procedures; however, an alliance between the San Rafael Arcangel Hospital in Liberia, Guanacaste and Centro de Radioterapia Siglo XXI, hope to position the country on the map as a medical ...

Its April 20 or “weed day” as many call it and the consumers of marijuana in Costa Rica celebrate this day by smoking of course. The theories on how 4/20 became a code for pot smoking are many and no one can say for sure which one is the true story, but the fact is that April 20 has become internationally known as weed day, events are held in many countries to advocate for the legalization of c...

In the last ten years the number of people infected with HIV in Costa Rica has raised a 68%, back in 2002 health centers would diagnose less than one new case per day, while by 2016 this number went to one new patient every 12 hours. Almost 80% of the new patients diagnosed are homosexual men. According to Costa Rican Health Authorities, between 2002 and 2016 there were a total of 9,197 diag...

An increase in cases of measles was first reported last year in Europe and some areas of the United States, but recently, several countries in Latin America have also raised the alarm; for this reason, health authorities in Costa Rica are on alert and have began promoting a vaccination campaign that will take place in August. Maria Luisa Avila, specialists in the area of infectious diseases in...

Latin America, duly registered since January this year in the National Registry of Costa Rica. In Costa Rica the use of marijuana or cannabis for medicinal purposes is still not legalized, but a group of 10 friends decided to start paving the way by creating this association, which has the purpose of “studying the varieties of cannabis and their different scientific, cultural and therapeutic ap...

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entity in charge of creating the Zika vaccine wll be recruiting as of April, 240 Costa Ricans of the metropolitan area and Santa Cruz, Guanacaste that have not been infected by the virus and are willing to try the experimental vaccine in a trial. The Zika virus, transmitted by a mosquito has affected people in over 50 countries, includi...

"Minutes to Die: Snakebite - The World's Ignored Health Crisis", is a documentary produced by the Lillian Lincoln Foundation, directed and written by James Reid and narrated by Mike Rowe which seeks to raise awareness on the snakebite crisis plaguing the rural poor in some areas of the world. The documentary also highlights the work done by the University of Costa Rica's Clodomiro Picado Institute...

Almost one month has passed since the complex surgery took place (February 23-24) to separate Costa Rican siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel, the brothers remain in the National Children’s Hospital, Ezequiel in after-care while Samuel still hasn’t been able to leave the ICU. “Their evolution is slow, tough and complex”, stated Olga Arguedas, director of the National Children’s Hospital regarding...

An approximate $880 thousand that was seized by the Costa Rican police from drug trafficking operations will be given to the Social Security Service (C.C.S.S.) to help patients that are battling substance abuse problems. The Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD) signed the agreement with the C.C.S.S. on Tuesday, March 20; the majority of the funds (approximately $600 thousand), will be used to remod...

Former siamese twin Ezequiel Nuñez was able to leave the Intensive Care Unit at the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica and was moved to an isolated room where he is able to be with his parents 24/7. Unfortunately, his brother Samuel still remains in the ICU since he continues to depend on a ventilator. “Ezequiel is not in an isolation room that has been made available for him to make hi...

Two-year old Costa Rican former Siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel Nuñez show mild progress ten days after the complex procedure to separate them that took place at the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica. The twins remain in the intensive care unit where they are constantly monitored, delicate but stable, Ezequiel is already breathing on his own without the need of a mechanical respirato...

We have all heard it, diet, an exercise routine and enough sleep will keep you from having to visit the doctor or having a serious health crisis. Exercise helps you keep stress under control, it helps you get in shape and get rid of the extra weight or build that lack of muscular tone that you may have noticed recently. Physical activity is in vogue, this is certainly a good thing, and we shoul...

Are you aware of the power of a beautiful smile? Many people overlook this important detail in their appearance, while others refuse to smile to hide misaligned teeth, or stained or damaged pieces. The fact is, that having a beautiful smile can do wonders for your professional and social life, and nowadays dentists have many ways of correcting problems in a simple and fast way with the use of t...

The surgery to separate siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel concluded at 2 a.m. this Saturday and the children are in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the National Children’s Hospital in Costa Rica. The complex procedure to separate the 2 year-old twins that were joined at the head began at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, February 23 with a team of 20 professionals in different areas. Accord...

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Zamora/La Nacion Two surgical teams are taking part in the complex surgery that involves separating Costa Rican siemese twins Ezequiel and Samuel, born in 2015 and who are joined at the head. The babies were taken into the surgery room at 7:30 a.m. Friday, February 23 and almost 11 hours later the surgery was still in progress. The Social Security Service (CCSS) confirm...

Andrea Miralles is only 13 years old, but she is already forced to face a big and difficult battle, she was diagnosed with an aggressive type of cancer that is allocated in her left thighbone (femur), now she fights to save her leg and her life. The young Costa Rican is the youngest of three sisters and is passionate about dancing, reading and singing. It was actually after participating in a...

Since this past February 2, the Turrialba Volcano in Cartago, Costa Rica has continued the emission of ash in a passive and constant way and in moderate quantities. The column of ashes, aerosol and gases elevates close to 300 meters above the west crater, and the wind is directing the column towards the southwest-west and northwest. Communities in Cartago; San Jose (specially Coronado, Goicoe...