Hemophilia in Chile, 1996-2006

This article describes the process that Chile underwent from 1996 to 2006, which is the dawn of a period of planned and systematic organization that begins to solve the severe health problems that afflict patients with hemophilia. The article reports a general overview of the situation of hemophilia in Chile in that period - up to 2006 -, including the lack of reliable data, treatment options, training of specialists on the topic and healthcare system responses. The article then goes on to describe in general terms the main aspects of Operation Access and the National Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program, the results of which will be described in a subsequent article of this series.