The Week in Health: Mexico Approaching Healthcare Trends

Rollercoaster of news this week in health. On the good side, Mexican states are prioritizing serious healthcare issues such as an aging population and chronic degenerative diseases. Also, coverage is still growing with hopes of improving next year. For the bad news, USMCA modifications are going to impact pharmaceutical companies, which were the winners until a couple of days ago when Deputy Minister Seade revealed negotiators missed some points when signing the last version of the agreement.

NATIONAL

Jalisco just announced its 2020 budget in which health is a priority for the state.

Representative Efraín Morales exhorts the Mistry of Health to dispose of the students’ medical certificate as a requirement for their enrolment in public schools. This, he says, is becoming a business as doctors charge MX$20 (US$1.1) for each certificate.

Patients seek to include multiple myeloma in the category of catastrophic disease so it can be included in the Catastrophic Expense Protection Fund.

The Senate urges the creation of a NOM for children with cancer in order to achieve effective attention from doctors and hospitals.

Calls for mental healthcare are increasing in Mexico since it is still a taboo in society. This week was heavily marked by how stress causes problems and diseases on populations of all ages.

To increase healthcare coverage, Morelos’ Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco ran across the state as a part of the program Health in Your Community that brings free medical services and medications to remote populations.

Aging population is a trend that Leon is interested in approaching with the largest program in elder healthcare attention, in addition to existing programs to attend visual deficiencies. 

Nuevo Leon is also implementing policies in order to ensure elders’ quality of life as the state congress approved a series of reforms to prevent self-medication and elder abandonment.

Remember how last week pharmaceutical companies were going to be nothing but winners thanks to USMCA? After “misreadings” from the Mexican commission assigned to the renegotiation, pharma companies have become the unexpected losers.

INTERNATIONAL

Art is now a way to relieve stress and increase longevity.

US Court marks Obamacare as unconstitutional and President Donald Trump argues that the whole law should be eliminated.

New FDA approval. Low nicotine cigarettes will now be sold in the US market.