The work incapacities due to the epidemic of diabetes have decreased in the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) since the covid-19 pandemic struck. But that good news is followed by much less encouraging: in 2020 at least 50,000 more people died from this metabolic disease compared to 2019. And with preliminary figures, a similar rate was recorded in 2021.
The diabetic complications they can affect the development of those who suffer from it, for example, in the workplace, says Dr. Mauricio Hernández Ávila, director of Economic and Social Benefits of the IMSS. And it also damages the productivity of the workplace, he adds in an interview.
For this reason, “we are working with the companies on a broad program of prevention and promotion of health in the workplace. It has been shown that they are very effective places to promote health and the well-being of people,” he says.
Before covid-19, “we granted 6,000 weekly disabilities for diabetes. In the strongest months of the pandemic in 2020 we reached 3,300 ”, he reports. Since August 2021 they have risen to 5,700 on average, but are still below pre-pandemic levels.
This decrease “is due to the fact that people stayed at home sheltered.” And if they have not increased above 6,000, it is because “workers are still afraid to go to hospitals to process disability”.
In 2019, more than 104,000 people died from diabetes, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi). By 2020, deaths from this cause increased to 151,019 cases. The latest figures, published by the Inegi last January, indicate that in the first half of 2021 there were 74,418 deaths associated with this disease.
premature pensions
In 2020 almost 8 million workers from the formal sector had to shelter at home because they suffered from some condition that made them seriously vulnerable to the spread of covid-19. Of that population, 20% had diabetes. “The rest was due to pregnancy, overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and other chronic diseases,” says Mauricio Hernández.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers this disease an epidemic. In Mexico it is third cause of death and in 2019 it was the ninth globally. The WHO estimates that in that year more than 1.5 million deaths were a direct consequence of this condition.
In 2016, the Ministry of Health (SSa) issued the declaration of epidemiological emergency for the entire national territory, given the magnitude and significance of the cases of Mellitus diabetes. In that year it caused more than 98,000 deaths.
Each year, almost 40,000 workers receive a premature pension in Mexico for general illnesses. The most frequent is diabetes, 44%, reports Dr. Mauricio Hernández. They are followed by high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and some others.
The poor control of that condition it can cause kidney failure or ulcers in limbs, which leads to amputations and disables people to carry out various activities, points out the director of Economic and Social Benefits of the IMSS.
The new strategy
From the first weeks of the covid-19 pandemic, the IMSS implemented a program of refillable prescriptions for chronic diseases. “That contributed to the fact that they did not have to go to the clinic, which is also why disabilities decreased,” explains the official.
Each work license granted by the institute for this condition “is three to four days on average. For a complicated diabetes it is many more days”. In 2019, a total of 85,000 disabilities were issued.
But even if people come to work, the discomfort erodes their working capacity. “Labor presenteeism is a problem that impacts the productivity of companies and the country, it is estimated that it represents a loss of 3.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The IMSS has developed campaigns such as “Check, Measure, Move” for the prevention and control of overweight, and Prevenimss. “But in the companies they have not been very effective because the economic benefits for chronic diseases they keep going up. We have to make a greater effort, ”she acknowledges.
“There is no normative responsibility of companies to promote health and that is a weakness. But yes, there is a very great intention of the employers, the covid-19 alerted us in a dramatic way about this problem”.
It is many countries of the world are addressing diabetes from the work centers, “it is called total health at work. So we are going to reinforce risk prevention in companies by combining it with health promotion”.
This will also allow improve productivity and eliminate rotation, he says. The new strategy consists of “working with groups of businessmen, in December we had a broad meeting in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to detonate it. It is based on the commitment of companies to carry out actions”.
The institute will make available to organizations a Educative offer about this disease and its prevention. “That is not going to change things by itself, the employer has to make changes so that the workers change their habits.”
For example, banning smoking anywhere on the premises, creating physical activity programs, change the menu in the dining rooms that are healthy. Also, he lists, “establish links with social security centers, in the IMSS we have sports facilities, swimming pools, soccer and basketball courts.”
This Monday, the institute announced the holding of the international congress Safe and healthy work environments, in which this and other challenges will be addressed. The meeting will take place on July 14 and 15 this year in Monterrey, Nuevo León.
