The much-needed universal health coverage must once again be a priority.
Highlights:
- In Mexico, a growing socioeconomic inequity has decreased access to health.
- The most vulnerable people are at greater risk of presenting most of the adverse effects of diseases because they do not have access to a robust prevention system.
- This issue has been exacerbated by a disjointed and saturated health system due to the pandemic.
- The much-needed universal health coverage must once again be a priority for our National Health System, ensuring the protection of a constitutional right.
In Mexico, a growing socioeconomic inequity has decreased access to health. As a result, the most vulnerable people are at greater risk of presenting most of the adverse effects of diseases because they do not have access to a robust prevention system. This issue has been exacerbated by a disjointed and saturated health system due to the pandemic. The much-needed universal health coverage must once again be a priority for our National Health System, ensuring the protection of a constitutional right.
In a talk with Dr. María Fernanda Pizarro, a specialist in Health Systems from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, explains that our health system “since its creation has been organized by disjointed subsystems,” traditionally not consolidating a solid, fair, sustainable, universal and prevention-based health system. “Each six-year administration term throws away what had already achieved previously,” emphasizes Dr. Pizarro. Such is the example of Seguro Popular, which was replaced by INSABI on January 1, 2020, further increasing the inequality between those with social security or private health insurance and those who do not have financial health protection.
Among all COVID-19 patients, a higher proportion of indigenous people have lost their lives compared to non-indigenous people.
Another vital point to achieving universal health coverage is an early investment in prevention strategies that reduce the rate at which diseases, complications, disability, and mortality occur. These must be pillars of public health and be based on data that “allow us to find trends that help us distribute economic and human resources,” reveals Dr. Pizarro. In this sense, decisions in Mexico during the pandemic have been primarily reactive. According to 2021 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexico had the third lowest vaccination rate against COVID-19 among 37 member countries.
Our health system should prioritize equity, providing follow-up to the programs implemented in previous administrations, ensuring that the system is financially supported, and guaranteeing everyone accesses to health services without suffering financial hardship. However, addressing these inequities has been neglected on the political agenda, and predictably, this scenario will continue to be a public health problem. Dr. Pizarro presents a hopeful vision and concludes that “the first step is the slowest and most expensive, but in this moment of chaos, it has finally become visible and is an opportunity to see what is needed as a system.”
