Ecuador’s Medicine Delays Leave Public Hospital Patients Waiting Months
ECUADOR · HEALTH
Key Facts
- —The country Ecuador, on South America’s Pacific coast, uses the US dollar. Public patients use Health Ministry or IESS (social security) hospitals.
- —Why it matters A 12-year-old boy with leukaemia died on 18 September while his hospital waited, since May, for approval to buy his drug, his family said.
- —What happened Extra.ec traced on 4 October how medicine delays arise as drugs move from planning to purchase to delivery.
- —The numbers A catalogue order can arrive in seven to ten working days if stock exists. Off-catalogue drugs need a full tender first.
- —The government’s answer The Health Ministry says its warehouses are well stocked and a new state supply company will speed deliveries to hospitals.
- —What it means for you Some public hospital patients end up buying drugs and tests privately. Foreign residents relying on public cover should plan for gaps.
- —Still open A court order to supply 69 medicines, upheld in 2025, was unmet in September, patient groups say. The ministry did not answer Extra.
Ecuador’s medicine delays begin long before a hospital pharmacy runs dry. Planning, approvals, purchases and contracts can take months, Extra.ec found in a report published on Sunday 4 October.
For one family the wait ended in grief, as a boy with leukaemia died before his drug arrived. The government says supply is improving and a new state company will take over distribution.
Two Children Caught in the Same Queue
Stalin, a 12-year-old with leukaemia from Vinces, was treated in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. He died on 18 September, Radio Pichincha and Expreso reported.
His family had complained for months that blinatumomab, a cancer drug, never arrived. They said the hospital had been waiting since May for state approval to buy it.
Thiago, 13, has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and needs 152 ampoules of Erwinia asparaginase, another cancer drug. His oncologist requested it about a year ago, Extra reported, and it has not come.
His mother, Viviana Arévalo, has filed a protection action, a fast-track constitutional lawsuit, against three public bodies. Expreso found two more children at Guayaquil’s Francisco de Icaza Bustamante children’s hospital waiting for the same drug in September.
How a Public Hospital Buys a Drug
Each public institution must publish an annual procurement plan, known as the PAC, by 15 January. It lists what the hospital expects to buy that year.
For 2026, the Francisco de Icaza Bustamante hospital registered US$2,482,307.50 for medicines and medical devices with SERCOP, the public procurement agency. A line in that plan does not mean the product has been bought or has a delivery date.
If a drug is on SERCOP’s electronic catalogue, the hospital can simply place an order. With stock available, delivery can take seven to ten working days, said Luis Alberto Andrade Polanco, a former SERCOP deputy director.
If it is not, the hospital must define the need, write specifications, study the market and run a full tender. Medicine delays tend to build on that longer route, according to Extra’s reporting.
Where the Supply Chain Breaks
Andrade points to planning. If health bodies fail to plan their needs properly, he told Extra, it will be very hard for hospitals to stay stocked.
He stressed that SERCOP neither buys nor distributes medicines. Each health institution runs its own purchases, and it can fine a supplier that fails to deliver.
Francisco Andino, a former health minister, said the public procurement law splits purchases into four phases of 52 steps each. He also ran the IESS’s Teodoro Maldonado Carbo hospital in Guayaquil in 2021.
Turnover at the top adds to the medicine delays, Palacios and Andino argue. Extra counted eight health ministers since President Daniel Noboa took office in November 2023.
Andino said each change of minister renews teams and priorities, which can stall or orphan paperwork.
A Court Order Still Waiting
In 2021, Ecuador’s ombudsman and patient groups sued the Health Ministry and the IESS in Guayaquil over supply problems. A first-instance court ruled for the patients on 12 May 2022.
The Guayas provincial appeals court rejected the state’s appeals in November 2025 and gave it 60 days to comply, Primicias reported. The ruling covers 69 medicines for leukaemia, cystic fibrosis, kidney disease, myasthenia gravis and childhood cancers.
Rafael Palacios, of a parents’ association for children with cancer, told Extra the medicines were still undelivered in September 2026. Extra asked the Health Ministry about compliance and received no answer before publication.
What the Government Says
Health Minister Juan Carlos Aveiga said on 23 September that the ministry’s warehouses were at ‘200 %’, Ecuavisa reported. He said a new state company, AIL EP, would start distributing medicines the following week.
The company is meant to centralise the purchase and distribution of medicines across the public health network. A mission from the Pan American Health Organization advised on its launch in August, Extra reported.
In one weekly round of its Ruta de la Medicina programme the ministry announced over 11 million units of drugs and supplies for all 24 provinces, El Oriente reported. The shipments cost more than US$1.2 million, it said.
Noboa said on 18 September that hospital supply stood above 60 percent and should reach 70 percent in October. He also accused some doctors of prescribing out-of-stock drugs to force purchases, a claim the Guayas medical association rejected.
What It Means for Patients and Foreign Residents
Some patients fill the gaps themselves. One mother told Expreso a single outside test costs her about US$30, so she can only afford checks once a month.
Foreign residents with IESS cover can face the same medicine delays for some drugs. Private insurance or a budget for pharmacy purchases can soften the risk.
The reporting does not show that every hospital lacks every drug. It shows that specialised treatments, such as some cancer medicines, can get stuck in procurement for months.
What Comes Next
The first test is whether AIL EP shortens medicine delays compared with the old provincial system. Noboa’s own target of 70 percent supply in October gives a clear yardstick.
Patient groups are waiting to meet Aveiga, who Palacios says has shown openness. For families like Thiago’s, the measure is simpler: whether the ampoules arrive in time.
The Rio Times Ecuador explainer sets out the wider context.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Why do medicines take so long to reach Ecuador’s public hospitals?
Drugs not on the state’s electronic catalogue need a full tender with specifications and market studies. Experts also blame weak planning and frequent changes of health ministers for the medicine delays.
What is the IESS?
The IESS is Ecuador’s social security institute. It pays pensions and runs its own hospitals for insured workers and their families.
What is the government doing about the shortages?
It has created a state supply company, AIL EP, to centralise buying and delivery. The Health Ministry says its warehouses are well stocked, and it announced shipments to all 24 provinces in late September.
Should expats in Ecuador worry about medicine delays?
Those relying only on public cover may face medicine delays for specialised drugs and may have to buy some privately. Asking early about a drug’s availability saves time.
Sources: Extra.ec, 4 October 2026; Expreso (leukaemia patients), 22 September 2026; Expreso (medical association and Noboa), 20 September 2026; Radio Pichincha, 18 September 2026; Primicias, 8 December 2025; Ecuavisa, 23 September 2026; El Oriente, 25 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief