Ecuadorian Health Care Market - Global Sales Mentor | Zach Selch

22 May 2020 · 4 min

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4:05

In this presentation, Zach Selch provides a concise analysis of Ecuador’s healthcare market, highlighting its recent UN recognition as an innovative provider and its standing among Latin American markets. He outlines key demographic and economic indicators—16.5 million people, 60 % urban, per‑capita GDP around $12 K, and health spending about $350 per person—positioning Ecuador as a middle‑income, moderately‑priced market. Selch explains the mixed healthcare system: a universal Ministry of Health, a Social Security scheme that serves employees, government staff, the military, and even many expatriates, and a growing private sector that includes medical tourism and high‑quality hospitals. Rural care is delivered through village‑based health workers and midwives, with a national ratio of 2 doctors per 1,000 people and 1 hospital bed per 1,000. He notes a legal mandate for 50 % female enrollment in medical schools, signaling gender balance efforts. The core of the talk focuses on sales opportunities: telemedicine, training for nurses/midwives, sanitation and clean‑water solutions, and, in urban centers, standard medical equipment, diagnostics, ventilators, and pharmaceuticals. Selch points to Ecuador’s 4.5 % annual GDP growth, infrastructure upgrades, and a projected shift toward lifestyle‑related health issues over the next decade, concluding with a call‑to‑action for companies to partner with his team to expand international sales.

Chapters

Let's talk about the Ecuadorian healthcare market. First of all, they just recently were awarded by the UN a recognition as being one of the most innovative healthcare providers in the world. And in Latin America, they're considered one of the top 5 markets in terms of how they provide healthcare to everybody. So we're looking at a really Sophisticated market in terms of, especially when you consider how much per capita they're actually paying per patient. Demographics, 16.5 million people, very similar to what you're going to see in a lot of Western countries. Not too old, not too young, about 60% urban, about 5% malnutrition, about 20% obesity. So I look at this as really one of those markets. It's not a really poor market, not a really rich market. right there in the middle. Per capita GDP is about $12K. Spending per capita on healthcare is about $350. And they have a very innovative but very Latin American system. So we have the Ministry of Health, which is committed by law to provide healthcare to everybody. We have the Social Security, which like Social Security in Mexico and a lot of other Latin American countries, people pay into. In Ecuador, it also covers government employees. It also covers the military. And that's really— it's considered such a good level of healthcare that a lot of the expats actually use the Social Security instead of using private sector. And then we also have the private sector, which includes Medical tourism. And that includes some really, really good hospitals. Maybe not at the level of what you're going to see in Colombia, but very close. So we have a very nice mix of different levels. Every village, essentially every person you could say in Ecuador has a healthcare professional assigned to support and help them out. So every village has people. A lot of these people are, say, midwife level. And they're going to go out and provide the healthcare support. 2 doctors per 1,000 population, 1 hospital bed. Interesting thing, the medical schools are obligated now by law to have 50% female students, so they're pushing towards encouraging women more into the healthcare sector. What can you sell here? Here's the thing. Anything— because if you think about the decentralized system, right, anything that's going to provide healthcare in villages, anything that's going to provide telemedicine, anything that's going to provide better training for nurses or midwives who are dealing with patients far from the cities, things that deal with sanitation and clean water. But then in the cities, you're going to have everything that you're going to find in other— Countries. Markets with a per capita GDP of about $12K, right? You're going to need all that good medical equipment for hospitals, the diagnostic equipment, the beds, the ventilators, all that type of stuff, as well as medicines and so on. The population here hasn't really fallen into the serious lifestyle problems that some other richer countries have. But let's see in 20 years. The GDP is growing at about 4.5% a year. I'll tell you what, over the years I've been coming here for, for years, more and more building, beautiful new airport, beautiful new buildings. The economy is booming. People will be having lifestyle issues in the next decade. Remember, when you're ready to grow your international sales, reach out to us. We can help. When you decide it's time to grow your international sales, call us.