INSABI Director Presents Analysis at the Chamber of Deputies

Juan Ferrer, Director, the Institute of Health for Welfare (INSABI), presented his analysis of the Fourth Government Report to the Chamber of Deputies. He reiterated that the institute is supported by the Army, Navy, National Guard and Birmex to help distribute medical supplies. He also said that ensuring Mexico’s medicine supply is a federal duty in response to negative opinions about INSABI’s performance on that front. “Let us walk together,” he said.

Ferrer also affirmed that recent medicine shortages are due to a change in operational models. Birmex has been appointed as the distributor, but it will be supported by the other state institutions, as Ferrer pointed out that Birmex’s infrastructure is not nearly large enough to reach Mexico’s 32 federal states. During the hearing, the deputies also mentioned the soon-to-expire medication the country holds. As MBN previously reported, BIRMEX purchased highly overpriced supplies that year that could not be distributed and remained in storage.

As for medicine imports in 2021, 22.5 percent came from the US, while 40 percent came from five European countries. From the European countries, Germany exports 14.5 percent of Mexico’s medicine. France exports 8.3 percent, while the other three exporters are Switzerland, Ireland and Italy.

Among the products imported are medicine, antisera and vaccines. According to Christian López-Silva, Partner in Chief of Health and Life Sciences, Baker McKenzie, Mexico prefers European products because of how much they invest in science, technology and research, as reported by Reforma. In addition, Europe has high standards for health regulations, strong legal systems and experienced medicine agencies. At the same time, trade agreements play an important role in this exchange.

Nevertheless, Mexico is still short on medicine. In 2019, President López Obrador changed the acquisition and distribution model, but the first consolidated purchase resulted in a 62 percent medicine deficiency. Consequently, the government signed a now-defunct agreement with UNOPS for assistance in its medicine purchases. As previously reported by MBN, the government had hoped that the changes to the acquisition system would generate savings and help combat corruption, but a year after going into effect its new system appears to have failed. Experts agreed that it is necessary to gather more data to identify pitfalls, risks and opportunities. Immediate concerns include how to augment domestic production, how to balance global and local supply chains and the need to differentiate medication through standards or certifications. Regardless, “this is not a problem that can be solved unilaterally, from either the private, public or civil sector; it requires interaction on behalf of all three to generate ideas free of as many blind spots as possible,” said Miguel Lombera, President, CANIFARMA.

The health system has experienced many changes over the past three years. Another shift yet to be formalized across the country is the implementation of the newly created IMSS-Bienestar. The Health Ministry published the MAS-Bienestar Guidelines in October, which aim to foster major changes in the distribution of health services.