Many Guatemalans are faced with limited access to health care. Forty-six percent (46%) of the population lives in poverty and twenty-three percent (23%) live in extreme poverty. There is an average of 10 doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants, falling far short of the recommended 25 per 10,000 by the World Health Care Organization. Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro is the only answer to healthcare for many Guatemalans.
The health and residential care programs serve Guatemalans from all twenty-two departments of the country. Eighty percent (80%) of patients are from rural areas and ninety percent (90%) of all patients live at or below the poverty line. One-third of patients are indigenous; mostly women of reproductive age. In the last three years, Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro has provided surgical services to more than 19,000 people and treated thousands in its outpatient, prevention and specialty clinics.