The supply of medicines in Mexico still does not reach ideal levels

The supply of medicines in Mexico improved during 2023, but is still far from ideal levels, and the mental diseases were the conditions most affected by the lack of drugsrevealed a report presented this Monday by the Colectivo Cero Desabasto.

“Yes, there has been an improvement in terms of access and in 2023 it is more than evident. Since 2022 we were already beginning to see this trend, but in 2023 things have already improved; However, we do not stop taking our finger off the line”Frida Romay, coordinator of the Zero Shortage Collective and head of the Cause of Health and Wellbeing in Us, said in a press conference.

The activist specified that in 2023, more than 7.5 million prescriptions were not effectively filled in the main social security institutions, which represented a 55% less than in 2022.

He detailed that the supply percentage of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the Institute of Security and Social Services (ISSSTE) are above the 98%while that of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is 90%, that of the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) of the 84.3% and that of the National Defense (Sedena) of the 73.9%.

He highlighted that, although cancer continues to be one of the most affected diseases, for the second consecutive year mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and attention deficit disorder occupied first place in shortages last year.

“For the second consecutive year, that is, in 2022 and 2023, the group of diseases that ranked first in the highest number of reports were illnesses related to mental health, and also mention that we received reports from all federal entities,” Romay emphasized.

Due to the shortage of medicines, patient complaints to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) regarding non-supply increased by 6% between 2022 and 2023. The IMSS was the institution with the most complaints registered, followed by the prison system.

Vaccination in a dive

Andrés Castañeda, also coordinator of the Colectivo Cero Desabasto, pointed out that one of the most worrying points revealed by the report is the drop in vaccination coverage in Mexico.

“We see with concern how we were not very well (in vaccination), but now things are getting worse. We have a drop in the complete scheme, which a year ago was 83-84%still 66% in 2023 in one-year-old children”, lament.

He added that, for example, the coverage of the Triple Viral vaccine (SRP) in its second dose dropped from 91.8% to 66.8%and in his first dose of 86.9% to 66.8%.

While SRP coverage at 18 months decreased 47% to 43.6%and the coverage of the hexavalent in its fourth dose went from 84.3% to 61.6%.

Furthermore, BCG (tuberculosis) coverage was reduced 93.3% to 83.9%the third dose of 13-valent pneumococcal lowered 80.7% to 70.8%and rotavirus vaccine coverage decreased by 79.9% to 74.6%.

The crisis due to the shortage of medicines in the Mexican health sector worsened in 2019 due to budget cuts and changes in the purchase of medicines, imposed by the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who came to power on December 1, 2018. .

Furthermore, in 2020 and 2021 the situation was complicated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which sparked nationwide protests and one of the biggest political crises for the Government.

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