The Ministry of Health and Social Protection issued an official statement clarifying the statements made by the Minister of Health of Valle del Cauca, María Cristina Lesmes, after former President Álvaro Uribe revealed her message and raised concern about the state of order in the ministry.
The National Portfolio presented the numbers, responsibilities and amounts investedin order to determine the insurance process and the origin of the reported failures.
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The Lesmes statement included a description of the situation of chronically ill and high-cost patients in the valley, as well as messages to the national government about the need for additional resources and urgent action.
A letter from Valle del Cauca’s Health Minister warned of interruptions in treatment and difficulties in caring for seriously ill patients. “Cancer patients have no one to take care of them. Orphaned patients die. There were 1,501 orphan patients in Colombia who died between January and August, due to lack of medicines.“, he stated.
He also noted that “hemophilia patients, especially children from Valle del Cauca, are bleeding because they have no medicines” and that both pediatric and adult oncology patients “have had their treatment suspended.” He added in his letter that there are no medicines available for common diseases and that Kale receives patients from other highly complex departments.
Relevant official individual cases, such as that of a minor from El Platado, Cauca, who may be at risk of losing a transplanted kidney; He stressed that the solution does not depend on the resource manager of the public health social security system (Adres) and that direct resources requested by the national government will be required. “In Valle del Cauca, 4 billion pesos are owed to service providers, a condition that no longer allows them to continue purchasing medicines or supplies.He added.
In response, the Ministry of Health explained that the insurance works by transferring resources from Idris to EPS, hospitals and clinics, and that this flow – depending on the entity – takes place without delay. The statement explained that failures in the delivery of medicines, continuity of treatment, and payments to service providers are consistent with health promotion agencies.
The National Wallet noted that “Difficulties related to treatment interruptions, medication shortages, delayed care and lack of access to services are due to deficiencies in management and payment by EPSHe added that referring to the government as responsible ignores the structure of the system.
As a result of the above, the wallet reported that in 2025 alone, Adres transferred 4.76 billion pesos in Valle del Cauca: $3.3 billion to the private network and $1.45 billion to the public network. He also noted that the department’s UPC increased by 33.3% between 2022 and 2024.
Regarding the P4 billion debt mentioned by Lesmes, the department stated that it corresponds to the accumulated earnings per share obligations with service providers..
The government confirmed that it has invested $819.972 million in Valle del Cauca, between primary care, infrastructure, health care transportation and the strengthening of services. According to the portfolio, $341,906 million of this amount was allocated to essential health equipment and $304,216 million to hospital infrastructure..
Regarding access to medicines, the Ministry of Health explained that the intermediation chain leads to cost overruns and delays, highlighting Resolution 35379 of 2025 issued by the Industry and Trade Supervision Authority, which allows joint purchases of medicines in exchange for intervening earnings per share.
The Ministry explained that according to Infima’s lists, there is no general shortage of cancer or hemophilia drugs; and He noted that the observed failures respond to business relationships between EPS, IPS, and pharmaceutical managers.
In response to the confirmation that those infected with orphan diseases are “dying,” the Ministry presented official figures on the decline in deaths and the availability of medicines. “In Colombia, cases and death rates decreased in 2025 compared to 2024.”As the authority indicated in its statement.