[Follow-Up and Analysis of the Relevance of Breast Cancer Program Indicators (1998-2023)]

Breast cancer is a public health problem in Chile and the world. As part of its strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality from this disease in Chile, 1998 the Ministry of Health (MINSAL) published the Programmatic Guidelines of the National Breast Cancer Program with actions at the levels of care and optimal indicators to achieve: Structure, Process, Coverage, and Impact. It was established that the representative of each Health Service (SS) should collect the information and consolidate it at MINSAL, providing inputs for annual analysis and evaluation of results to support decision-making.

To know the validity of the indicators of the 1998 Breast Cancer Program in the 29 SS of the country.

Through the Transparency Law (LDT) a survey is requested indicating the continuity in the measurement of the indicators of the Programmatic Guidelines of 1998 of the National Breast Cancer Program.

Of 29 SS existing in Chile, 100% acknowledge receipt of the request. 34.5% of these respond partially and/or with inaccuracies. The rest: do not know the information, deny it, or do not respond. 31% of the SS have exclusive Managers. Of the 9 SS that responded about the validity of the indicators: One maintained 100% of the structure indicators; none maintained all process indicators (ranging from 0 to 75%); two reported 100% of the coverage indicators as valid, and one maintained the impact indicators.

No SS maintains all the original indicators of the Program, and although some indicate that they have updated them, these are not available via LDT. It is worrying to note the discontinuity of monitoring, lack of information, and optimal follow-up of the Program, as well as the lack of Managers in each SS, since their absence directly affects health decision-making.