- According to the Ministry of Health, at least 200,000 Mexican doctors are required to comply with international recommendations.
- One year after the signing of the agreement, a total of 806 Cuban medical specialists are distributed in 16 entities in Mexico.
- Thanks to your support, more than 776,000 visits and procedures have been performed in rural hospitals in our country.
A recurring complaint about the Mexican health system is the lack of personnel to care for so many patients. For this reason, one of the recent strategies of IMSS was the hiring of Cuban doctors. With this, an attempt has also been made to send doctors to remote areas because they are the ones with the most shortages.
This measure began at the end of 2022 thanks to an agreement signed by the governments of Mexico and Cuba. Since then, strong controversy has been generated because it is considered unfair competition. In addition, it has also been reported that the island’s health personnel remain “kidnapped” by their authorities and lack human rights.
Despite the negative opinion, the general director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Zoé Robledo, reported that until now 806 Cuban medical specialists have been hired. He added that thanks to their support, more than 776 thousand visits and procedures have been carried out in rural hospitals in our country.
List with all the work they have done
In a breakdown, he specified that to date the healthcare activity of this staff registers 665,194 consultations, 42,600 ultrasounds, 38,600 dialysis sessions, 23,492 surgeries, 3,212 studies, 1,983 births, 891 cesarean sections and 592 endoscopies.
▶️The general director of Social Security, Zoé Robledo, pointed out that there are 806 Cuban specialists deployed in health services of 16 entities
🔹 https://t.co/X3QpPTYuXh pic.twitter.com/p1Y4YZ75uT
— IMSS (@Tu_IMSS) September 12, 2023
He pointed out that the more than 23 thousand surgeries were achieved thanks to the presence of these specialists in the operating rooms, which previously could have been enabled, but there was no surgeon or anesthesiologist to carry out the procedure.
How are they distributed in Mexico?
He specified that the distribution of professionals by federal entity who joined hospitals that operate with the IMSS-Wellness Health Care Model are: 51 in Baja California Sur, 51 in Campeche, 12 in Chiapas, 86 in Colima, 52 in Guerrero, 71 in Michoacán, 39 in Hidalgo, 109 in Nayarit, 68 in Oaxaca, 31 in Quintana Roo, 60 in Sonora, 15 in Tamaulipas, 105 in Tlaxcala, 25 in Veracruz, 3 in Yucatán and 28 in Zacatecas.
“They work in places like Mesa de Nayar, Montaña de Guerrero, Costa Chica in Oaxaca or Cananea, in Sonora; in rural areas also in Tlaxcala, Colima or Michoacán, in the Huasteca Alta of Veracruz, in Zacatecas, in Morelos, in Campeche.”
The head of Social Security explained that the specialties offered are Surgery, Gynecology, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Cardiology and Neurosurgery, in hospitals that had never had the presence of a specialist doctor. In some cases, even since its inauguration.
For all of the above, Robledo indicated that he plans to extend the agreement for another year to hire more Cuban doctors.
“The truth is that it has been an extraordinary experience, they are Cuban doctors who are saving the lives of Mexican men and women.”
Also read:
IMSS turns 80 and “celebrates” it with the hiring of more Cuban doctors
Mexican doctors ask for the expulsion of Cuban doctors for not having a professional license
“IMSS Bienestar increases the productivity of doctors”: Zoé Robledo