Objective: To characterize the current status of oncological services supply in Colombia.Methods: A descriptive analysis of oncological services for cancer care in the adult and infant population that meet the requirements for operation according to the Special Register of Health Service Providers was carried out. The case - by - provider ratio was calculated based on the cancer incidence estimated for Colombia by the National Cancer Institute.Results: Were identified 1,780 qualified oncology health services in the country related to specialties for providing care to cancer patients. Twenty five providers nationwide had all three qualified services: chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. Nearly 50% of the offer was concentrated in Bogotá, Antioquia and Valle del Cauca. Putumayo and the Amazonas group departments, with the exception of Vaupés, did not show any oncological services. Healthcare Providers were responsible for 87.8%, and independent professionals provided 12.2%. Outpatient services were 66.7% of oncology services, 17.4% was diagnostic support services and therapeutic complementation, and 15.9% was surgical services. 87.9% of the oncological service offer in Colombia takes place in the private sector.Conclusions: The ratio between the service groups is asymmetric, with few providers jointly offering the basic services for oncology treatment, which reflects how provision is fragmented. It is necessary to redefine the concept of oncology service under a comprehensive care approach and the importance of enabling functional units, comprehensive treatment centers and other forms of care.

Entre junio de 1983 y julio de 1984, la Armada Nacional de Colombia por intermedio del Centro de Investigaciones Oceanográficas e Hidrográficas (CIOH), la cofinanciación de COLCIENCIAS y la participación de las universidades Nacional de Colombia, Jorge Tadeo Lozano, e internacionales como la Hardvard y la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA), desarrolló cuatro (4) cruceros oceanográficos Interdisciplinarios al Área Insular y oceánica del Caribe colombiano, Archipiélago de San Andrés y Providencia. Las campañas oceanográficas se llevaron a cabo, a bordo de los buques de investigaciones oceanográficas, ARC “Malpelo” y ARC “Providencia”, de la Armada Nacional de Colombia. Estas actividades se ejecutaron dentro del programa nacional “Condiciones Oceanográficas”, cuyos objetivos fundamentales se refieren al conocimiento y descripción de las características físicas, químicas y biológicas de los mares colombianos, así como su interrelación y variaciones espacio – temporales.

Background: In low-income countries, a child diagnosed with cancer has an 80% chance of dying, while in high-income countries more than 80% survive the disease. In Colombia, a middle-income country, the government issued new legislation that promotes the generation of comprehensive care units; nevertheless, seven years after its expedition, no institution has been recognized as such by the Ministry of Health. The objective of this study was to characterize the current offer of oncological services for cancer care in children and to identify the institutions that can be constituted in Units of Comprehensive Care of Childhood Cancer in Colombia.Methods: descriptive study of secondary source, the Special Register of Health Providers of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection was consulted, in order to identify the institutions that had enabled hospitalization services of medium or high complexity, chemotherapy, specialized consultation, emergencies, oncological surgery, and radiotherapy or nuclear medicine. The information is reported in absolute frequencies.Results: Seventy one institutions have hematology-oncology consultation, 39 institutions have chemotherapy and hospitalization services of medium or high complexity, and 18 have radiotherapy enabled. Only nine of the institutions include all the services that are necessary for comprehensive care.Conclusion: Colombia has a sufficient supply of services for the care of children with cancer. Only a minority are in institutions that have the capacity to guarantee the integrality of the attention.

Introducción. Colombia ha modificado las normas de medicina nuclear que impacta la administración de yodoterapia en el tratamiento de cáncer de tiroides. Objetivos. Identificar las áreas de acuerdo con respecto a la problemática, requerimientos presentes y emergentes asociados con la normativa para el funcionamiento de los servicios de medicina nuclear. Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio Delphi de dos rondas para cada grupo de expertos, clínicos y regulatorios. La primera ronda exploró los puntos de vista sobre las implicaciones de la normativa que aplica a la medicina nuclear. La segunda ronda calificó por relevancia las declaraciones de la primera ronda. Resultados. La problemática de los servicios de medicina nuclear está relacionada con la claridad normativa y la falta de sinergia y coherencia entre los organismos de inspección, vigilancia y control. Las exigencias al sistema de gestión de desechos requieren una alta inversión económica que puede influir en la oferta del servicio y repercutir en el control integral del cáncer de tiroides. Entre las necesidades presentes y futuras se encuentran: unificación de criterios de los auditores, delimitación de funciones de los actuantes, asistencias técnicas a los servicios para cumplir con la normativa y la veeduría sobre los organismos de inspección, vigilancia y control por parte de los entes regulatorios. Conclusión. Los hallazgos de este estudio sugieren que los servicios de medicina nuclear atraviesan un momento de múltiples desafíos institucionales, normativos y económicos que ponen en riesgo el desarrollo y mantenimiento la medicina nuclear en la atención oncológica.

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