Over the last few months, the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) has shown special interest in the field of health. One of the clearest examples was when, at the beginning of the pandemic, it presented two models of fans made in Mexico. They were baptized with the names of Ehécatl 4T and Gätsi and are intended for the support of hospitalized Covid-19 patients. In both cases, they have the potential to be mass-produced, which will allow lower costs than what would be implied by buying them abroad.
In the same way, it can be mentioned that in the National Examination of Applicants for Medical Residencies (ENARM) of 2020 there was a drastic change. For the first time, scholarships were offered to study the specialty outside of Mexico. It was all thanks to an initiative of the Council, although in the end there were some annoyances because the only country with which an agreement was reached was Cuba.
Another decision that at the time caused controversy is that as of this 2021 the scholarships granted by Conacyt to study abroad are exclusively for people from the area of Health Sciences.
Union of efforts for the benefit of doctors
While today it was announced that with the objective of promoting the development of medical equipment with 100% Mexican technology that has the ultimate goal of protecting people’s health, Conacyt and the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) signed an agreement. The idea is to collaborate to meet the technological development needs of the Institute in the care of diseases with an epidemiological profile different from Covid-19.
In a virtual working meeting with the general director of Conacyt, María Elena Álvarez-Buylla Roces, the general director of the IMSS, Zoé Robledo, proposed to establish a strategy to have medical care teams in hospitals through Public-Public Associations (APP), which involves state governments and universities in the country.
“We must intentionally seek the public option, because in many cases the service they offer us is better compared to private providers, who sometimes offer expensive equipment as they dominate the market.”
For her part, the general director of Conacyt, María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, stated that they will put all their skills and knowledge at the disposal of Social Security to work in the IMSS Clinics Network for Well-being. He added that in this way it will have a positive impact on public health.
He also recognized that there are notable and auspicious advances in related fields such as Artificial Intelligence, data science, and environmental health. He also emphasized Conacyt’s commitment to strengthening clinical research through different projects.