The 15.2% increase in the health budget, already approved as part of the expenditure budget for 2022, is more than positive and welcome. According to the calculations of experts, it will be an additional 140,000 million pesos considering programmable and non-programmable expenses. It must be said that being still in the midst of the health emergency due to a historical pandemic is the least it deserves.
We are already urgent to go back. Covid-19 will continue to absorb public and private budgetary resources in the following years, but it is also necessary to give priority to other epidemics and in general to the care of non-Covid diseases to overcome the lag carried over in the last two years that the hospital reconversion left us .
It remains to be seen that the Senate passes the budget equally unchanged and without accepting any of the almost 2,000 reservations of the opposition. As approved by the Chamber of Deputies, it will be about 800,000 million pesos which will be exercised next year for health.
It must be said that in proportion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) it represents 2.8%, that is, the advance will be much less; we are still far from the promise of increasing health spending by 1% of GDP. We already know that to get closer to Nordic health care levels we would have to at least double that proportion of public spending on health. In these nations their governments invest 8 to 10% of GDP in health.
Here apart we have manipulated figures. The announced increase in health resources is including what for the third consecutive year is sucked into the Health Fund for Well-being (Fonsabi, formerly the Catastrophic Expenses Protection Fund of the defunct Seguro Popular). That is, they are not new resources. They just go from one bag to another. In 2019 they took 40,000 million from said Fund, in 2021 they took another 33,000 million and by 2022 they go for the entire remainder that is estimated at 66,000 million pesos. It is unfortunate that it is not transparent where specifically these multimillion-dollar resources are destined, which were reserves to cover costly diseases.
For drugs, $ 75 billion
In the field of medicines and health supplies, Enrique Martínez, from the Pharmaceutical Institute (Inefam) shares his analysis of the PEF 2022 that projects a total budget of 123,000 million pesos for purchases in this area. It would apparently be a record figure, but you have to consider 28,000 million pesos that will be to buy vaccines, primarily anti-covid vaccines. In other words, it is a line not considered in previous budgets, and, once again, it is not clear where these resources will come from. It follows that the Fonsabi, but they do not need it.
Covid vaccines, according to Inefam, will absorb about 20,000 million pesos and the remaining 8,000 million will be for non-Covid vaccines, which is formidable news as it will help mitigate the enormous deficit of vaccines suffered in Mexico in recent years from previous administrations.
Removing these 28,000 million, there are 95,000 million pesos that, according to Inefam’s reviews, are expected to be for the purchase of other supplies. Some 20,000 million pesos would be for healing materials and medical devices, a penalized figure compared to previous years.
For drugs, there would then be about 75,000 million pesos, an amount higher than previous years in which between 65,000 and 70,000 million pesos have been allocated, although we already know that with inefficient results.
In this framework, Enrique Martínez makes us see, Insabi issued a call for the consolidated acquisition of some 900 drug codes by 2022 (half of what the Government buys each year approximately), which would imply an amount close to 55,000 million pesos, including 8,000 million for Non-Covid vaccines. That is, for drugs they are about 47,000 million pesos.
That means that it remains to be seen how and in what type of purchases another 28,000 million pesos are exercised for medicines. They may be exercised by UNOPS or through other purchasing efforts. We will know that in the following months, but for now the important thing is that there is an effort to invest more in treatments for patients. It would be important that the effort also focuses on planning and distribution to solve the severe funnel that is in the distribution.
Journalist on economics and health issues
Health and Business
Communicator specialized in public health and the health industry. Studying a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration at FCA of UNAM.
Founder in 2004 of www.Plenilunia.com, a concept on women’s health. I am passionate about researching and reporting on health, innovation, the science-related industry, and finding an objective business approach to each topic.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx