section_path: Demographics/Health
section_name: Health
paragraph_text: Health
  
  The overall life expectancy in Colombia at birth is 79.3 years (76.7 years for males and 81.9 years for females). Healthcare reforms have led to massive improvements in the healthcare systems of the country, with health standards in Colombia improving very much since the 1980s. The new system has widened population coverage by the social and health security system from 21% (pre-1993) to 96% in 2012. In 2017, the government declared a cancer research and treatment center as a Project of National Strategic Interest.
  
  A 2016 study conducted by América Economía magazine ranked 21 Colombian health care institutions among the top 44 in Latin America, amounting to 48 percent of the total. In 2022, 26 Colombian hospitals were among the 61 best in Latin America (42% total). Also in 2023, two Colombian hospitals were among the top 75 of the world.