Monday, September 1, 2008
Message from President Felipe Calderón as Part of the Second State of the Union Address
Health
Good evening.
Health is the most important
issue for any family. For my government, living better also means that all Mexicans will be able to receive health services
when they so require. That is why we are reinforcing the Popular Insurance System, which provides health services for the
population that previously lacked them.
By June of this year, 2008, eight
million families and over 30 million Mexicans were already affiliated to the Popular Insurance System, and as a result of
the Medical Insurance for a New Generation Program all children born in Mexico since the first day of my government, who used
not to have access to social security, now have proper medical protection.
As a result of this new insurance
program, 1.4 million children and their families have access to health services.
Living better also means that
all expectant mothers will receive the care they need to protect what matters most: their babies' health. This is made possible
by the Healthy Pregnancy Program, which we implemented this year.
Living better also means that
Mexicans in the most remote communities will also have access to health services.
Many of those watching this address
live a long way away from the most densely populated areas, where hospitals are located, and in order to support them the
842 mobile units of the Health Caravans Program visit 535 municipalities every day, taking medical services to over two and
a half million people.
Living better also means that
we are guaranteeing cancer treatment for all children, without exception, all children and teenagers under the age of 18.
At the same time, we are providing
a historic boost for the construction of more and better clinics and hospitals throughout the country.
As a result of the ISSSTE reform
approved by Congress, we now have the resources for building medical units and improving existing ones, including family medical
clinics for detection and diagnosis, and new ISSSTE general hospitals in states such as Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas,
Coahuila, Michoacán, Nayarit, Veracruz and Querétaro.
We are also investing to strengthen
the hospital infrastructure of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), by setting up new family medicine and outpatient
care units, as well as a large Regional General Hospital in the south of Mexico City.
Through the Health Secretariat,
the federal government has implemented 251 medical specialty units and is building hospitals throughout the country, including
specialty hospitals in Ciudad Victoria and Durango, for example.
Living better also means effectively
meeting the demand for medicines throughout the country. The IMSS and ISSSTE have already advanced in the timely supply of
prescriptions. We know it is necessary to make an even greater effort.
My government will continue to
ensure that persons living with HIV-AIDS will continue to receive antiretroviral medication totally free. We have also eliminated
the requirement that obliged pharmaceutical firms to have a factory in Mexico.
We did this so that we can have
much cheaper medicines from all over the world for Mexican families.
Friends:
If we go on like this, in three
years’ time we will have achieved the desire of every nation: universal health coverage; in other words, all Mexicans,
without exception, will have doctors, medicine and treatment when they so require.
We will continue to work to ensure
that you and your families have the health conditions to really live better.
Thank you for your attention.
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Presidency of the Republic, August 30, 2008, Mexico City
Translation Presidency of the
Republic
