June 8, 2012  Much to learn about Nicaragua  The last two weeks
of the study portion of SST have been filled with lectures,
field trips, and Spanish classes.   This post will focus on the
lecture portion of these activities, with posts following later
about field trips and classes.  Students learned about the
challenges of Nicaraguan health care from Doctora Gloria
Lopez.   The five principal health problems in the department of
Carazo (where Jinotepe, Dolores & Diriamba are located)
currently are infant mortality, an increase in chronic diseases
(arthritis, diabetes), sexually transmitted diseases,
respiratory diseases (asthma, pneumonia), and illnesses
transmitted by insects (dengue, malaria).  Many residents have
limited resources to take care of these health problems.  60% of
the national population has access to the public health system,
which is provided free by the government but struggles with a
limited amount of doctors, medicine and equipment.    SILIAS
administers the public health system throughou