Agenzia Fides

Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) - More than 16 000 people live on the streets of Buenos Aires, the capital and largest city of Argentina, with its 2,891,082 inhabitants, who have no access to basic health services. This was carried out by the Salud en la calle published by the NGO International Health Médicos del Mundo. The program of the NGO in the Argentine capital has been providing, for about 10 years, material assistance, psychological and social support to more than 2,000 people living on the streets. According to the study, the lack of identity documents is the main obstacle to the access to health services and support programs for 80% of the street people, 49% do not go to public centers for fear of ill-treatment, they have restrictive times and families are not allowed. 51% suffer from various addictions, alcohol, tobacco and cocaine. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), for the first trimenstre 2012, in Argentina poverty affects 6.5% of families living in urban areas. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 21/12/2012)