The Kangaroo Mother Program faces a crisis due to closures and lack of funding
One of the most important contributions of Colombian medicine to the world is the Kangaroo Mother Program, a care model for premature newborns based on skin-to-skin contact between the baby and their parents, along with comprehensive medical follow-up.
TL;DR
- The Kangaroo Mother Program, developed in Colombia in 1978, is a model of care for premature newborns based on skin-to-skin contact and integral medical follow-up.
- The program has gained international recognition and benefited over 10 million premature babies globally.
- Currently, Colombia has 73 active programs, but faces a critical situation due to the closure or weakening of services in cities like Popayán, Pasto, Montería, Cali, and Sogamoso.
- Delays in authorizations from EPS are a major difficulty, preventing timely referral of newborns to specialized programs.
- The reduction in services forces families to travel long distances to access the program, impacting the timely detection of potential complications in premature infants.