The monitoring of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) indicates
that in spite of the efforts made, Guatemala still needs to address certain challenges before it
can meet the targets for poverty, chronic undernutrition, maternal mortality, HIV prevention,
and environmental protection.
Total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP has risen in the last 10 years, but the
health-care system continues to rely on private expenditure, primarily out-of-pocket
spending. This means that Guatemala has the highest level of private expenditure as a
proportion of total health expenditure of any Latin American country.
The Guatemalan health system consists of a public and a private sector. The former includes
the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, the
Military Health Service, and other government bodies that provide health services. The latter
includes various for-profit and non-profit providers as well as traditional local providers. All
these coexist within a compartmentalized and fragmented system.