Only 40.8 Percent of Requested Medicines were Delivered to INSABI

The Institute of Health for the Wellbeing (INSABI) received only 40.89 percent of the medicines requested by its hospitals in different regions of Mexico, according to its own data. The official site records that only 145 million pieces have been delivered as of July 25, 2022, from the 357 million requested.

Some states have been heavily affected. Michoacan received only 28.5 percent of requested medications, Puebla received 28.9 percent and Morelos received 30.2 percent. States such as Aguascalientes and Nuevo Leon, which are not affiliated to the institute, have not received any items despite requesting small amounts of medicines.

Despite the current situation, Martina Pérez Rendón, Minister of Health, Queretaro, said that in previous years there was a smaller percentage of deliveries during this period. “This year we have had a more regular supply; between what we have acquired and what we have received from INSABI, we have managed to have a prescription supply of between 80-90 percent, because this varies from medical unit to medical unit. And yes, even when we buy [the supplies] ourselves, we have had shortages because the purchasing processes takes time,” said Pérez, as reported by Animal Político.

Mexico's healthcare system has been tested during the past few years with the implementation of INSABI and IMSS-Bienestar. The lack of clear operational frameworks and supply chain challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have limited the capacity of the public health sector, putting large doubts in the minds of Mexicans about the system’s ability to tackle future health emergencies.

“The Ugly [problem] is the real capability of our society and healthcare system to fight back in case another pandemic or other diverse variants of the COVID 19 virus arrive.  Have we really learned our lessons from this worldwide health event? Do we have the required resources allocated? Are we investing robustly in R&D? Do our health authorities act as one real authority working toward the population’s health needs and challenges?” said Karel Fucikovsky, BU Medical Care Director, Pierre Fabre Farma.