WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao’s healthcare system can no longer continue in its current form, experts concluded during a recent roundtable organized by the Association of Dutch Caribbean Economists on the future of healthcare on the island.
The main challenge is Curaçao’s rapidly aging population. Today, 24.7 percent of residents are aged 65 or older—a jump of more than 10 percentage points in just a decade. This places Curaçao among the top three most rapidly aging countries in the world, behind only Monaco and Japan.
Rising costs and shrinking workforce
Former internist and chair of the Council on Elderly Policy, Rob de Lannoy, pointed out that a growing number of elderly depend on a shrinking working population. This group is burdened with financing the island’s AOV pensions, AVBZ, and BVZ health insurance schemes.
Economist Djuwensi Passial of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten warned that if policies remain unchanged, healthcare costs will rise sharply. Based on demographic projections, expenditures are expected to increase by between 222 million and 752 million guilders by 2050.
Organizational shortcomings
Experts also highlighted structural issues created after 10-10-10, when healthcare responsibilities were divided between the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) and the ministries of Health (GMN) and Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW). Each has only partial authority, leaving no single entity fully accountable. In addition, the government has failed to comply with its own healthcare legislation.
The discussion underscored existing problems: long waiting lists for care and treatments, demand far exceeding supply, and subsidized healthcare institutions operating with negative equity—effectively bankrupt. The Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) continues to rely on direct government funding outside of SVB to remain operational.
Prevention as key solution
There was broad agreement that greater investment in preventive care is essential. Many age-related diseases and chronic conditions, such as glaucoma and kidney failure, could be avoided, yet current budgets for prevention are deemed grossly insufficient.
After more than a decade of delays, a healthcare authority is finally expected to be established soon, which could help address part of the system’s shortcomings.
Experts concluded that the government must develop a clear and comprehensive health policy and carry out structural reforms to keep the healthcare system sustainable and affordable in the long term.
