As required by law, the head of the Ministry of Health (SSa), Jorge Alcocer, went to the Senate of the Republic on the occasion of the gloss of the Third Government Report. The objective was to present a summary of your work and the decisions you have made. In this way, during his appearance, he took the opportunity to talk about the achievements he has achieved during the pandemic.
In this sense, he affirmed that the coordination between the different government agencies involved in the care of the health emergency contributed to the advancement of the hospital reconversion and the National Vaccination Strategy, which has reduced the speed of infections and deaths caused by COVID-19.
Jorge Alcocer achievements during the pandemic
He also highlighted that prevention, detection and medical care actions have been jointly implemented that made it possible to face and reduce the impact. He said that at present, the third epidemic wave has been in steady decline for 11 weeks and hospitalizations are down 78 percent from the peak in January.
“The National Vaccination Policy against the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been one of the most successful measures in reducing the burden of disease and deaths from this cause. To date, 67 million 950 thousand 153 people have at least one dose, and 127 million 689 thousand 345 biologicals have been received or packaged in Mexico from seven pharmaceutical companies ”.
Alcocer Varela explained that the program was launched Strengthening Medical Care in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic, to reinforce actions in entities with primary health care in 240 mobile medical units that granted more than 71 thousand consultations. Almost 400 thousand health prevention and promotion actions were also carried out focused on the detection and care of symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Before members of the Health Commission and in the session in which the head of Insabi, Juan Antonio Ferrer Aguilar, also appeared, the secretary Alcocer Varela specified that eleven thousand 681 beds were converted for the care of patients with COVID-19 in critical condition .
Since June 2020, a regionalized estimation system of the behavior of the pandemic was implemented, called the COVID-19 Epidemic Risk Traffic Light, which is of general observance and public order in all states.
Regarding investment in the matter, he said that this government is committed to the health of the people of Mexico, and with the support of the Congress of the Union, the budget for 2021 was 12.9 percent higher than that of 2020. By 2022, The Federation’s Expenditure Budget (PEF) project considers an increase of more than 46 billion additional pesos to face the pandemic, improve health services, train more medical personnel and continue working on gratuity for the population without social security.
Six thousand 312 million pesos were allocated to the Free and Out-of-Pocket Program for Health Services in Hospitals and Institutes for specialized care services provided to the population without social security. That amount is in addition to the 8,881 million pesos authorized in the PEF 2021.
Likewise, he stressed that special attention was given to the supply of cancer drugs. In January 2020, 28 keys in potential shortage were identified, before which, international purchases were made and during 2021 more than 277 thousand pieces of drugs were distributed in the 26 states attached to Insabi. By 2021, the distribution is scheduled for 30 entities.
Regarding infrastructure and medical equipment, he reported that Insabi coordinates efforts in all states, in order to guarantee the provision of services, in response to the right to universal health.
Secretary Alcocer Varela also referred to advances in HIV care, promotion of healthy habits and supply of medicines, among other topics.