Costa Rica to offer Panamanian indigenous health services

The Government of Costa Rica announced that for 2018 it will guarantee access to health services for the thousands of Panamanian natives.

 The Panamanians are of the Ngäbe Buglé ethnic group and working in Costa Rica for the coffee harvest.

The indigenous people will be covered by a regulation of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) that will guarantee insurance of these workers and that will be financed by the Ministry of Finance and the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Icafé).

This new insurance system will cover all coffee collectors and has specific conditions for the Ngäbe Buglé community giving them access to health centers of the CCSS, regardless of the place or area where their work activities are carried out, reported the Costa Rican Chancellery

This regulation aims to regulate the labor, economic and migratory situation of this indigenous population and is the result of joint work between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the CCSS, the Icafé, the coffee cooperatives and the municipalities.

"The scope of this initiative dignifies workers and their families, also allows better compliance with labor rights and greater legal security for workers and entrepreneurs who work in production and coffee harvesting activities," he said. Costa Rican chancellor, Manuel González.

Every year, thousands of indigenous people, most without birth or identity documents, cross from Panama to Costa Rica to work on the coffee harvest, which runs from October to February, especially in the Los Santos area (center).

These indigenous people suffer problems such as labor exploitation, unhealthy living conditions, little access to health services, education and poverty, among others.