Libro I. Disposiciones generales

All inhabitants of the Republic have the right to the prevention, promotion, recovery and rehabilitation of their health, without any discrimination.

Health is a social product resulting from the interaction between the country's level of development, the living conditions of the populations and social participation, at the individual and collective level, in order to provide the inhabitants of the country with the most complete physical, mental and social well-being.

All inhabitants of the Republic are obligated to safeguard, improve and preserve their personal, family and community health, as well as the salubrity conditions of the environment in which they live and carry out their activities.

The State, in fulfillment of its obligation to safeguard the health of the inhabitants and maintaining the principles of equity, solidarity and subsidiarity, shall develop, through the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance and in coordination with state institutions, decentralized and autonomous entities, organized and private communities, actions for the promotion, prevention, recovery and rehabilitation of health, as well as the pertinent complementary ones, in order to secure for Guatemalans the fullest physical, mental and social well-being.

For this purpose, the State, through the Ministry of Public Health and other public institutions, shall ensure that the provision of the health service to every Guatemalan person is guaranteed, free of charge.

The State shall guarantee the right of communities to participate in health programs and services, with regard to planning, organization, control and social oversight.

All inhabitants have, in relation to their health, the right to respect for their person, human dignity and privacy, professional secrecy and to be informed in comprehensible terms about the risks related to the loss of health and disease and the services to which they are entitled.

This Code is a law of general observance, without prejudice to the application of the special social security norms. In case of doubt regarding the application of health laws, social security laws and others of equal hierarchy, the criterion of applying the norm that most benefits the health of the population in general shall prevail. Likewise, for purposes of interpreting the same, their regulations and the other provisions issued for the promotion, prevention, recovery and rehabilitation of the health of the population, the social interest shall fundamentally prevail.

The Health Sector is understood as the set of centralized and decentralized, autonomous, semi-autonomous public bodies and institutions, municipalities, private institutions, non-governmental and community organizations, whose competence or purpose is the administration of health actions, including those engaged in research, education, training and instruction of human resources in health matters and health education at the community level. For purposes of this law, it shall hereinafter be referred to as the "Sector".

The institutions that make up the sector have the following functions and responsibilities:

a)The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, which hereinafter and for purposes of this Code shall be called the "Ministry of Health", is in charge of the stewardship of the Health Sector, such stewardship understood as the leadership, regulation, oversight, coordination and evaluation of health actions and institutions at the national level. The Ministry of Health shall also have the function of formulating, organizing, directing the execution of policies, plans, programs and projects for the delivery of health services to the population. To fulfill the foregoing functions, the Ministry of Health shall have the broadest powers to perform all acts and issue all measures that, in accordance with the laws, regulations and other service provisions, correspond to the exercise of its function.

b)The Guatemalan Institute of Social Security, with respect to the Health actions it carries out within the country's social security regime, in accordance with its own laws and regulations. In coordination with the Ministry of Health in matters pertaining to health, it shall carry out programs for the prevention and recovery of health, including maternal and child care and prevention and care of accidents.

c)The municipalities, in accordance with their attributions in coordination with the other institutions of the Sector, shall participate in the partial or total administration of the provision of programs and health services in their respective jurisdictions.

d)The universities and other human resources training institutions shall promote, in coordinated form with the State Bodies and institutions of the Sector, research in health matters, the education and training of human resources at the professional and technical levels.

e)Private entities, non-governmental organizations, community organizations and cooperation agencies, in accordance with their objectives, shall participate in coordinated form with the other institutions of the Sector in the solution of health problems through the execution of programs and the provision of services, improvements of the environment and integral development of communities, in accordance with the policies, regulations and standards established for such purpose by the Ministry of Health.

f)The Professional Associations related to health with respect to the regulation of professional practice.

The Ministry of Health, to fulfill its coordination functions, shall carry out the following actions:

a)Ministry of Health-Guatemalan Social Security Institute Coordination. The Ministry of Health and the Guatemalan Social Security Institute shall coordinate their plans, programs for promotion, prevention, recovery and rehabilitation of health, as well as the use of their human, physical and equipment resources in order to achieve expanded coverage of health services, to be efficient, effective and to avoid duplication of services, infrastructure and expenditures.

b)Intra- and intersectoral coordination. The Ministry of Health, to fulfill the coordination function within the sector and with the other sectors, shall enter into accords and agreements, both at the national and local level, as well as with international organizations.

c)The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance shall work in a coordinated manner with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the National Civil Police, the Judicial Branch and the Superintendency of Tax Administration, in the performance of its functions for the combat and eradication of the production, fabrication, manufacture, labeling, packaging, conditioning, storage, distribution, commercialization, import, export, transportation, supply, smuggling, sale and/or dispensing by any means, including electronic or computer means, of falsified medicines, falsified pharmaceutical products, adulterated medicines, medical devices and falsified medical surgical material, since they represent a grave risk to the health and life of persons.

c)Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance-Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food-Public Prosecutor's Office-Superintendency of Tax Administration -SAT- Coordination: with the object of guaranteeing to Guatemalans health and their fullest well-being, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food and the Superintendency of Tax Administration -SAT- shall coordinate, with the support of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the National Civil Police, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defense and the other State dependencies that intervene in combating customs smuggling of merchandise, property or articles whose final destination is human consumption, the policies, plans and actions necessary to prevent entry into the country of those that do not comply with the requirements that Guatemalan laws require for their commercialization, whose final destination shall be destruction in accordance with the provisions of this Law, the Law Against Customs Fraud and Smuggling, Decree Number 58-90 of the Congress of the Republic and its amendments, and other special provisions related to the subject matter.

* Subparagraph c) is added by Article 1 of Decree of the Congress Number 28-2011 of 17-12-2011

The organization and administration of the health promotion, prevention, recovery and rehabilitation programs and services contemplated in this Code shall be deconcentrated and decentralized according to the needs of the population and of the administrative modernization process of the sector. The institutions of the Sector, for the administration and provision of services, shall establish areas of influence to serve population groups preferably coinciding with the territorial spaces of the departments and municipalities of the Republic.

The National Health Council is created, constituting itself as an advisory body of the Sector attached to the Ministry of Health.

The National Health Council shall have the following functions:

a)Promote coordination mechanisms among the institutions that form the Sector, in order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness with a sense of equity of the health actions they carry out.

b)Provide advice to the Ministry of Health in the formulation and evaluation of policies and strategies and in the development of national health plans of a sectoral and institutional nature.

c)Other functions assigned to it by the Ministry of Health.

The Council shall be constituted by a titular representative and an alternate from each of the following entities:

a)Ministry of Health;

b)Guatemalan Institute of Social Security -IGSS-;

c)National Association of Municipalities -ANAM-;

d)Associations of development institutions that provide health services to the population;

e)Coordinating Committee of Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations -CACIF-;

f)Assembly of Presidents of the Professional Colleges;

g)University of San Carlos of Guatemala;

h)Private universities of the country;

i)Ministry of Education;

J) Any other institution that, in the judgment of the Ministry, may form part of the Council on a temporary basis.

The level and type of representation shall be established in the regulations for the functioning of the Health Council and they shall act on an ad-honorem basis.

The Council shall be presided over by the Minister of Health and, in his absence, by the Vice Minister designated by him. A regulation shall govern the organization and specific functioning of the Council.

The organization of the Ministry of Health shall be based on the Law of the Executive Branch, and shall be framed within the strategies of decentralization, deconcentration and social participation. A regulation shall define the specific functions of each of the levels and the corresponding organizational structure; it shall comply with the following purposes:

a)To exercise the stewardship of the sector in order to maintain the principles of solidarity, equity and subsidiarity in the health actions directed to the population;

b)To favor the access of the population to public health services, which must be provided with efficiency, effectiveness and good quality.

The Ministry of Health shall have the following functions:

a)To exercise stewardship of the development of health actions at the national level;

b)To formulate national health policies;

c)To coordinate the health actions implemented by each of its dependencies and other sectoral institutions;

d)To regulate, monitor, supervise and evaluate the programs and services that its executing units develop as decentralized entities;

e)To ensure compliance with international treaties and agreements related to health;

f)To issue all measures which, in accordance with the laws, regulations and other service provisions, pertain to the exercise of its functions and are aimed at protecting the health of the inhabitants;

g)To develop health promotion, prevention, recovery, rehabilitation and pertinent complementary actions in order to provide the population with satisfaction of its health needs;

h)To foster and strengthen the participation of communities in the partial or total administration of health actions;

i)To coordinate the technical and financial cooperation that international organizations and countries provide to the country, on the basis of national sectoral policies and plans;

j)To coordinate the actions and scope of Non-Governmental Organizations related to health, in order to promote complementarity of actions and avoid duplication of efforts;

k)To prepare the regulations required for the correct application of this law, to review them and to permanently readjust them.

*l) To adopt measures aimed at combating and eradicating the production, fabrication, manufacture, labeling, packing, conditioning, storage, distribution, commercialization, import, export, transport, supply, smuggling, sale and/or dispensing by any means, including electronic or computer means, of adulterated medicines, falsified medical devices and falsified medical-surgical material, since they represent a serious risk to the health and life of persons.

* Subparagraph l) is added by Article 2 of Decree of Congress Number 28-2011 of 17-12-2011

The Ministry of Health must define a health care model, which promotes the participation of the other sectoral institutions and of the organized community, which prioritizes health promotion and prevention actions, guaranteeing comprehensive health care, at the different levels of care and tiers of complexity of the system, taking into account the national, multiethnic, pluricultural and multilingual context.

The organization of the Ministry of Health shall comprise the following organizational levels and functions:

a)Central Level responsible for:

I)Direction and management of health actions.

II)Formulation and evaluation of policies, strategies, plans and health programs.

III)Standard-setting, surveillance and control of health, and supervision of the provision of health services.

b)Executor Level shall be responsible for the provision of health services, on the basis of levels of care according to the degree of complexity of the services and their capacity to resolve them.

The Ministry, in order to perform its technical, administrative, financial and human resources functions in a more efficient and effective manner, shall establish administrative and technical manager positions at each level that requires it, taking into account the different university and technical professions necessary for the management of the Ministry.

The State shall allocate the necessary resources for the public financing of the provision of health services, to serve the population in general and, on a priority and mandatory basis, those with the greatest lag in their social and economic development.

a)The municipalities and local, national or international organizations may allocate financial resources for the provision of health services directed to the population under their jurisdiction.

b)Non-Governmental Organizations, in accordance with their policies and programs, and within the regulations of this Code, may finance the provision of health services in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

For purposes of coordination of the provision of health services, the Ministry of Health may enter into agreements and contracts with the institutions that make up the Sector and other institutions linked to it. Likewise, the public institutions of the Sector may, through agreements or other legal instruments, enter into service-provision agreements among themselves and with private entities.

The Ministry of Health and the other entities of the sector shall prioritize the human resource as the key factor for the modernization of the sector and the implementation of the comprehensive health care model.

The Ministry of Health shall be responsible for formulating the Sector policies on human resources matters, and shall implement in the institution the policies corresponding to it.

The Ministry of Health shall participate jointly with the universities and other institutions that train human resources in health, in the formulation of plans and programs for the education, training and management of human resources in health on the basis of the care models to be established and the epidemiological profile of the population.

The Ministry of Health in coordination with the other institutions that make up the Sector, shall structure an information system capable of permanently detecting the needs in matters of formation and training of human resources in health required by the institutions that provide care to the population.

The universities, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and other institutions of the Sector have the responsibility to train the professionals and the technical and auxiliary personnel of health and related sciences, in accordance with the academic norms and requirements established for each educational level in the system.

The Ministry of Health, jointly with the rest of the institutions of the Sector, are responsible for guiding and ensuring the updating of personnel in aspects linked to the provision of services, through diverse modalities of adult education, related to the improvement of performance and to the development of health institutions and human resources.

Health human resources training institutions at the undergraduate and postgraduate level shall promote the linkage of the student to health services, as one of the basic strategies in their training process, for which the relevant interinstitutional agreements shall be ratified, approved and implemented.

The Ministry of Health and the other institutions of the Sector shall guarantee, through the application of appropriate ethical and technical-administrative principles, the management of human resources in health, in support of the implementation of the Comprehensive Health Care Model and the development of the human resources of the Ministry of Health and of the Sector.

The labor relations between the Ministry of Health and its workers shall be governed by the fundamental principles contained in the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, the Civil Service Law, the international agreements ratified by Guatemala and by the other laws and regulations on the matter as well as the provisions of this Code.

The Ministry of Health shall promote and foster the development of health research policies and technological development with the participation of the institutions comprising the sector.

The institutions comprising the Sector, in coordination with other institutions that the State has created for such purposes, shall formulate national health research policies.

The State shall strengthen the capacity of the institutions that make up the Sector in research and technological development, by fostering the development of research centers, improving existing infrastructure, facilitating the management, administration and execution of projects, as well as educating and training human resources.