The Director General of #IMSSMaster. @zoerobledoparticipate in #PresidentConference #ElPulsoDeLaSalud to present progress of the Health Plan @IMSWELLBEING. https://t.co/WaNyTZTzpa
— IMSS (@Your_IMSS) January 17, 2023
The official explained that the IMSS is a substantive part of the public health chain of the Mexican State, which serves almost 65.5 million people without social security.
«The federalization plans for public health are aimed at this enormous segment of the population to offer it completely free of charge, including medicines; the goal is for the plan to reach everyone,” he recalled.
He also explained that the 124 Cuban professionals who will arrive soon will be assigned to 12 federal entities in the states of Guerrero, Colima and Michoacán.
Robledo assured that this is the first stage of the project, since the country is going to expand hiring in numerous specialties, from intensive care providers to neurologists, including comprehensive general practitioners.
Explaining the progress of the project, he said that by the end of 2022, 21.8 million people in nine states were already being served by the program, which represented 33% of the projected total.
He stressed that by early 2023 the health federalization plan will be extended to eight more states and would reach a total of 31.5 million Mexicans, a figure equivalent to 48% of the goal.
In the second quarter, four more states will be enabled with 6.7 million people and 40 million patients will be raised for 61% compliance.
Robledo clarified that currently four Mexican states, presumably from the opposition, do not want to go to the federalization of health and care plans will be faced by their governments without federal support, which means that 11.9 million people who do not they will depend on the coverage of the central government.
In turn, he announced that last year’s initial call period ended at midnight this year, and only 18,400 national general practitioners responded, seeking to cover full shifts in several states, including weekends.
The hiring of Cuban doctors to achieve universal health coverage in Mexican territory is part of the agreements that in terms of public health both governments signed during AMLO’s visit to Cuba in May 2022.
Cuba and Mexico sign cooperation agreements, after meeting of their presidents in Havana
The Mexican president has reiterated that he will continue to hire Cuban doctors, even if it hurts conservative politicians.
Local medical colleges have questioned the hiring of doctors when there are Mexican specialists without a position. López Obrador acknowledged that there are vacancies at the Mexican Social Security Institute and at the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers, but that specialists do not take them because they are in rural and marginalized areas.
The agreement signed in Havana included the purchase by Mexico of some nine million doses of the Abdala vaccine, designed and produced on the island to face the COVID-19 pandemic. The first batch with more than 4 million doses arrived in the Aztec nation at the end of November 2022.
