In total, there are around 5.8 million people in Bolivia who do not have health insurance. Although a program was launched around four years ago to provide free healthcare for the entire population, there are still countless people who are excluded from it. This primarily affects street children, the homeless and others who are not officially registered as residents.

In addition, despite having insurance, many people are often unable to get adequate check-ups: The state healthcare system lacks trained specialists for prevention and treatment. Hospitals are also often not equipped with the necessary equipment, meaning that many examinations and treatments are simply not possible.

In particular, the extremely important preventive check-ups for young children and adolescents are thus falling by the wayside. Early detection of health disorders and abnormalities in development is extremely important in order to initiate targeted therapies in good time. In many cases, this is the only way to prevent serious consequences. This also applies to preventive dental care.

With our Street Doctors in La Paz, Bolivia, we also try to implement these important preventive examinations. To ensure that as many young patients as possible benefit from this, our three teams travel to specific schools every month to offer their services. In addition to a purely medical check-up, this also includes educating pupils about hygiene and proper dental care.

Last year (2022), 6064 children were reached - 6064 children who would not have received a check-up without the work of the Street Doctors; for some of them, this check-up came at the last minute - these lives were saved!