Photo: Archive Conchal Reserve and The Westin Golf Resort and Spa Playa Conchal donated new facilities for the local EBAIS (Basic Equipment for Comprehensive Health Care), the local public health care center that provides attention to neighbors of the communities of Brasilito, La Garita, Huacas, Flamingo and Potrero in Guanacaste. The inauguration of the new location in Brasilito, Cabo Velas...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  As the healthcare debate rages in Washington over repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act and its replacement the American Healthcare Act it’s obvious the new plan proposed by President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Republicans needs more work – the details...

According to data by the World Health Organization, every three seconds a person in the world develops this neurodegenerative disease, but the majority of them do not receive a proper diagnosis or adequate support. Only 29 out of the 194 nations members of the World Health Organization have developed comprehensive plans to deal with this condition; among them Costa Rica, which has a national...

Costa Rican health officials will be assisted by four U.S. helicopters next week on a first-ever building project in the remote indigenous Talamanca region in the country's Limón province. The country's public health system administrators, the Costa Rican Social Security Agency or CCSS, will require the fly overs to do an exploratory tour, and also to transfer construction materials that will b...

The Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS, its initials in Spanish) will offer hormonal and psychological treatment to transsexual individuals, in order to avoid both physical and emotional complications; reported the agency yesterday, Monday, June 19. Last week, the CCSS board of directors approved an agreement instructing the medical management to establish an interdisciplinary health prof...

After selecting last November the Banco de Costa Rica to finance and manage a health infrastructure trust fund, the Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS) which runs the country's health services and the BCR signed the agreement last month to proceed with building health infrastructure throughout the country. According to María del Rocío Sáenz Madrigal, who this week was asked to resign as e...

After spending a month trying to make an appointment at the local public health clinic (EBAIS, is the acronym in Spanish) in Santa Maria de Dota, Delvin Jarquín left a message at health center last Monday, reported Costa Rica's Spanish daily CRHoy.com. He left a sign and put a chain with a padlock around the clinic gate. Between his frustration and then a bad experience his wife and son had at ...

Costa Rica's Emergency Medical Response Team is the first in the Americas to achieve the EMT recognition by the World Health Organization. Costa Rica's emergency response team (EMT) is now recognized among the world's emergency medical teams that can be deployed quickly when requested by countries affected by disasters or emergencies, said the WHO last week.     Meanwhile...

Costa Rica's Ombudsman's Office (Defensoria de los Habitantes) said this week that the top complaint received by their office is related to access to health services. The figure came to light in the agency's 2016-2017 Annual Report which analyzes progress and gaps in meeting recommendations of the United Nations human rights committees. Part of these recommendations refer to the need to ensu...

Health is Wealth they say…and without a doubt health is indeed the most important thing a person can hope to have, yet it is probably also one of the things we usually take for granted; many times we don’t invest enough in our well-being, we think twice about paying that doctor’s appointment but we don’t hesitate on buying a new pair of shoes or spending the money on something we really like, we d...

María del Rocío Sáenz Madrigal, executive president of the country's social security agency (CCSS), noted that Costa Rica's health care system stands out for its provision of pain management, saying it is, "one of the few countries that provides palliative support to the population that is in terminal phase or that has chronic pain," said Saénz. Her observations come as the new headquarters of ...

According to data by the Costa Rica’s Social Security Service (CCSS), every week 3 Costa Ricans are diagnosed with oral cancer, and 2 die as a consequence of it. In the United States and according to the Oral Cancer Foundation “Close to 49,750 Americans will be diagnosed with oral oropharyngeal cancer this year. It will cause over 9,750 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day. ...

Two children received cochlear implants earlier this month in successful operations at the Liberia, Costa Rica public hospital, reported the Costa Rica Social Security Agency (CCSS), the entity charged with running Costa Rica's public medical facilities. Early auditory screenings are being implemented nationwide to detect hearing problems early on, as such corrections are more successful when m...

Foundation Casa GiáMaLa in Costa Rica reached an agreement with foundation DKMS of Germany, the biggest bone marrow donor center in the world, to have access to their data base and also import bone marrow. Leukemia is very common form of cancer in the blood, many children and adults in Costa Rica are diagnosed with this disease every year; a bone marrow transplant is the best treatment option f...

This year’s doses of flu vaccines are on there way to Costa Rica, and the public health system announced they will launch a US$5.3 million seasonal immunization campaign in June. The Costa Rica Social Security Agency (CCSS) which runs the national public health system of clinics and hospitals, said they aim to vaccinate 1.3 million people this year. Because influenza viruses change from year to...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  The swamp is on fire. Flames are spreading throughout the executive and legislative branches of government. There’s not enough water in the Potomac River to put out all the fires engulfing Washington, D.C. ignited by the mainstream media which is fanning the f...

Every year the problem repeats itself, as soon as the rainy season begins in Costa Rica many streets in the metropolitan area flood, causing a lot of different problems; the cause is of common knowledge, the sewage system is clogged with trash, but the efforts of the municipalities are insufficient, people continue to throw garbage where it doesn’t belong, and the consequences affect everyone. ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  One small chip from the base, then another and another led to a U.S. House vote against former President Barak Obama’s signature accomplishment -- ‘ObamaCare’ --  when on Thursday Congress narrowly passed the American Health Care Act of 2017, effectively...

The Manuel Mora Valverde Hospital in the southern Costa Rican city of Golfito near the Panama border recently received an investment of approximately US$1.8 million to renovate and upgrade their outpatient care, operating rooms, neonatal care, and hospitalization area, said the Costa Rican Social Security Agency which runs the country's public health care facilities. In February surgeons at the...

Maybe you are planning to travel to Costa Rica for your vacation and at the same time get some dental work done since you know that it is much more affordable in Costa Rica ?. Perhaps you are already on vacation and you are suddenly tormented by a toothache or other dental emergency, but how do you go about choosing the right dentist in Costa Rica? There are a lot of dentists in Costa Rica, clo...

Living in a foreign country can present many challenges, language being one of them. Costa Rica is home to a large number of expats, many who only speak English, fortunately many Costa Ricans speak a high level of English and expats have also identified the need and taken the opportunity to offer different services exclusively for this segment of the population; rehabilitation programs and recover...

“Chepe se baña” or "Chepe Bathes" (Chepe is a term used by Costa Ricans to refer to the city of San José) is a project to help transform a bus into a moving bathroom, with the purpose of providing homeless people of San José with the opportunity to take a shower, have access to a bathroom and clean up. With the help of private companies and individuals the first bus is already painted and prop...

As the demand for private health services grows by both Costa Ricans and tourists alike, leaders in the sector felt a broader approach to aid in coordination and communication was needed. Earlier this year at its annual assembly, Promed, Costa Rica's long standing medical tourism promotional body voted to change its statutes and to create an expanded body called the "Cámara Costarricense de la Sa...

Doctors from the Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS) are joining a medical mission from Texas this week to provide a variety of health services to residents of several indigenous villages in the Chirripó de Turrialba region, said Heylin Quesada Alvarado, medical director of the Turrialba-Jiménez Health Area The medical team with visit the Cabecar indigenous communities of Boyei, Grano de ...

The novel 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, is a trending topic these days among teenagers and concerned parents, especially after Netflix released the drama series based on the book. For those that are not familiar with this novel, it basically tells the story of a teenage girl, Hannah Baker, who kills herself and left behind a series of tapes for the people she blames for her suicide, explaining h...

This week, Costa Rican public health officials are launching an “intense information and education campaign … with the goal of having Ticos incorporate in their daily diet more salads and fruits, water as a main drink, use weekly meal plans, and internalize the concept of a ‘healthy plate’,” said the Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS). The most comprehensive data on obesity shows a 275 p...

Earlier this month, one of San José, Costa Rica’s main public hospitals, the México Hospital, installed new modern ophthalmological units, in addition to other equipment. The Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS) which runs the state medical system, said an estimated 20,000 patients per year will benefit from the upgrade to the latest technologies for eye procedures and exams. The over U...

The quality, and accessibility of healthcare is one of the main concerns every adult person has, it has been a long time discussion on which system is best and how it should be funded and structured in order to provide coverage for everyone while at the same time keeping an efficient system and a quality service. Quoting Trump “Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated?”, right? But it is,...

Work on the Calderón Guardia Hospital’s new East Tower will begin in mid-April and will last approximately three years, said officials from the CCSS, the Costa Rica Social Security Agency. The new infrastructure, measuring approximately 21,000 square meters and costing an estimated US$83 million, of which US$18 million will be for equipment, will bolster the country's public health care system....

Eleven year old Daniel León suffers from Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA), a rare disorder of the bone marrow in which it fails to produce enough red blood cells and usually apparent during the first year of life. Daniel was diagnosed with this condition when he was 1 year and nine months old. Only four other children have this disease in Costa Rica right now, and only 35 per year occur in the United...

The Costa Rica Ministry of Health confirmed that the massive vaccination against the influenza virus will begin in May 22. Initially it had been announced that it was going to start in the first week of May, however, the Ministry explained the setback obeyed to a delay in the purchase process of the 1.3 million vaccines. Children under five years of age, and population at risk: pregnant wome...

The Costa Rica Public Health and Social Security Administration (C.C.S.S) is requesting parents to confirm that their children have the measles vaccinations up to date as established in the immunization schedule of the institution; this because of an outbreak of the virus in Europe which was caused due to the low coverage of the vaccination program. The measles vaccine should be applied at 15 m...

This past March 31st, El Spot (The Spot) was inaugurated, this place is described as a “Center of Verticality and Outdoors”, the only one of its kind in Central America. The Spot is located in Guachipelin de Escazú, diagonal to the Distrito 4 shopping center, here, there are gyms and stores that focus in everything needed for the practice of adventure sports and outdoor physical activities such a...

Costa Rica’s public health system continues to strengthen care for mothers and newborns. Last year, the 65,281 babies were born at Costa Rica’s public hospitals, reported the CCSS (the Costa Rican Social Security Agency, which runs the public health system). Of these, 588 were twins, and nine were triplets. The hospitals have recently introduced screening procedures ("tamizaje" in Spanish) tha...

Tooth loss is one of the main concerns of adults everywhere in the world, studies show that tooth loss has decreased from the early 70’s thanks to better education and new dental treatments, yet the problem is still prevalent specially among adults aged 65 and over. Periodontal disease is one of the most common causes of tooth loss, periodontal disease is basically a localized infection in the ...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the creation of a commission to seek solutions to the increase in deaths from addiction to heroin and opiates, a situation he called a "total epidemic" and one of the "biggest problems" that the US has at present. "This is a total epidemic and I think it's probably, almost un-talked about compared to the severity that we're witnessing," said Trump a...

Costa Rica is known to have excellent weather conditions, but particularly during the months of March and April the temperatures tend to go up and the radiation is higher. Experts from the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) warned that starting this week and through the second week of April Costa Rica will be exposed to dangerous levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation as the sun rays hit per...

The Republican leadership of the US House of Representatives canceled Friday's scheduled vote on President Donald Trump's bill to replace the healthcare reform carried out by predecessor Barack Obama. House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he and Trump agreed it would be better to withdraw the bill once it became clear that the measure would fail due to defections among the GOP majority. "We came...

Let’s begin by clarifying that opiates do not refer exclusively to the use of illegal drugs like opium and heroin, opiates actually include some legal drugs such as morphine, oxycodone fentanyl, and codeine, often prescribed to treat pain. In the United States, it is estimated that almost 2 million Americans use prescription opiates and more than half a million are addicted to heroin; this numb...

Bloomberg Global Health Index evaluated 163 countries based on variables like life expectancy, health risks related to behavioral/endogenous factors such as high incidences of population with cholesterol, high blood pressure, overweight, children malnutrition etc., or environmental/exogenous factors such a polluted environment, availability of clean water, among others; also mortality by communica...