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 The government promised on Friday to release about $126 million (2.4
billion pesos) to help alleviate shortages at Mexican public
hospitals. The head of the largest public health system resigned
last week citing budget cuts, a complaint echoed by several hospital
directors.
In its first budget in December, the government reduced funding for
several ministries as it sought to centralize spending, fight public
sector corruption and honor a campaign pledge to implement fiscal
austerity.
Lopez Obrador argues that the problems in healthcare are the result
of his clampdown on overpricing that he says was rife in the health
system under the last government, with a small group of companies
benefiting from government purchases and charging excessive prices.
Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said at Lopez Obrador's regular
morning news conference that the problem was not a shortage of money
to pay for pharmaceuticals, but that some companies, which he did
not name, had not responded to government tenders for drugs.
Previous governments acquired medicines through ten suppliers that
provided 80% of the country's total drugs at premium prices, Lopez
Obrador said at the news conference.
Last month, he said three Mexican companies would be excluded from
future public tenders for medicine. Critics say that decision hit
patient care.
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"I ask citizens to help us, because we are cleaning the house, the
pigsty that they left. It can be an inconvenience that some
medicines are really unavailable, but the problem will be resolved,
and the health service will be improved."
"We apologize for the inconvenience," he said.
Lopez Obrador said if shortages continue, the government could seek
medicines directly from overseas pharmaceutical companies, rather
than from Mexican intermediaries.
Under the veteran leftist's administration, which took office in
December, purchases have been centralized through the Finance
Ministry, as part of a broader push to combat corruption, he said.
Alcocer backed up his points by saying that Mexico previously paid
the most of any country in Latin America for antiretrovirals to
treat almost 100,000 patients living with the HIV virus.
(Reporting by Diego Ore in Mexico City; Writing by Delphine Schrank;
Editing by Matthew Lewis and Sonya Hepinstall)
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