After the first debate between the presidential candidates, the government launched a strategy to promote supposed successes in health: “Mexico has one of the largest public health systems with the greatest free coverage in the world,” it was published on the account of X (formerly Twitter) of the Presidency of the Republic.
During electoral campaigns, government advertising is prohibited by the Constitution, whose article 41 establishes: “the dissemination of all government propaganda on social media must be suspended.” Yes, information related to “educational and health services, or those necessary for civil protection in cases of emergency” is permitted. It is obvious that more than seeking access to health services, the government intends, for electoral purposes, to generate a perception of achievements that, in reality, are non-existent.
In no matter, least of all in the health of Mexicans, should facts be manipulated at will. A rational discussion needs verifiable figures, not inventions. To show the falsehood of what the Presidency said, I resort to a single official source: the statistical annex of López Obrador’s fifth Government Report in 2023, its data.
1. In 2018 there were 22,615 units in public health sector institutions. By 2023 there were 21,614: this government ended with a thousand medical units.
2. In 2018, there were 294.9 million outpatient consultations—including general, emergency, and dental—in public sector institutions; in 2023 only 233.7 million. A drop of 21 percent.
3. General consultations went from 200 million to 157 million in the public sector, 21.5 percent less.
4. Specialty consultations fell from 46.9 to 35.9 million, a reduction of 23 percent.
5. Surgical interventions in the public sector, in 2018 there were 3.35 million performed and in 2023 only 3 million. A 10 percent drop.
6. Surgical interventions for the insured population (by the IMSS, ISSSTE, Pemex, Armed Forces or social security institutes of the federal entities), 2.9 million in 2018 and 2.2 million in 2022. Minus 23 percent.
7. Hospital discharges in public institutions were 5.6 million in 2018 and by 2023 only 5.17 million, a reduction of 8 percent.
8. Hospital discharges in IMSS-Bienestar (formerly IMSS-Prospera) went from 230 thousand in 2018 to 199 thousand in 2023, a drop of 13 percent.
9. Hospital discharges of the insured population were from 4.7 to 2.4 million between 2018 and 2023. They contracted 47 percent.
10. The complete filling of medical prescriptions in the IMSS Bienestar went from 85 percent in 2018 to 77.2 percent in 2022 (the data for 2023 was not published).
eleven. In the ISSSTE things were not better: general hospitalization discharges in 2018 were 235 thousand and 195.4 thousand in 2022, a drop of 17 percent.
12. Specialized hospitalization discharges in the ISSSTE decreased from 138.9 thousand in 2018 to 123 thousand in 2022, a drop of 11 percent.
13. Consultations for pregnant women in the ISSSTE increased from 355 thousand to 256 thousand between 2018 and 2022. The reduction in care is 28 percent.
14. The number of detection tests in the ISSSTE for communicable and chronic degenerative diseases increased from 17.8 million in 2018 to 16.8 million in 2022. One million diagnostic tests were stopped.
fifteen. Oral serum life sachets delivered by the ISSSTE decreased from 4 million to 3.5 million, 14 percent less.
16. The number of qualified emergency consultations offered by the ISSSTE went from 710 thousand in 2018 to 666 thousand in 2022. It reduced them by 6 percent.
17. The population using health services in the public sector at least once a year increased from 104.3 million in 2018 to 100.8 million in 2023.
18. In particular, attention to the uninsured population decreased: it fell from 48.2 million to 43.6 million, a decrease of 9 percent.
19. The care provided by the Ministry of Health, dependent on the federal Executive, was reduced from 35.3 million to 27.6 million. The government stopped treating one in five patients (22 percent) that it previously did.
twenty. The worst figure: the maternal mortality ratio (women who die from pregnancy complications per 100,000 live births) was from 12.9 in 2018 to 20.56 in 2023, 59 percent more in this government.
That’s the data; the other, manipulation. Enough of deception.
