The physical investment spending that the government allocates to the health sector continued to fall in the first two months of the year, in the midst of the fourth wave of Covid-19 caused by the Omicron variant, which increased infections to unseen numbers.
The most recent data from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) showed that, in the first two months of the year, the government allocated 292 million pesos to budgetary physical investment in health, which meant a decrease of 4.3% compared to the resources that were exercised in the same period of the previous year.
It stands out that physical investment in this item has fallen, for the first two months of the year, since 2016. 2015 was the last year with growth in resources for physical investment in health, with a rate of 28 percent.
Likewise, it is the lowest amount of resources allocated to physical investment in health, for a similar period, for 19 years. In 2003, 200 million pesos were allocated to the item.
Expenditure on physical investment refers to the resources that are destined for the acquisition of movable, immovable and intangible assets, which includes the purchase of buildings, furniture, equipment of a diverse nature, computer systems, vehicles and transportation equipment, among others. others, as well as allocations for public works and productive development projects.
Represents only 0.31% of spending on infrastructure
Health represents 0.31% of the resources that are allocated to spending on physical investment in total. In the first two months of the year, these resources totaled 94,009 million pesos, which represented a growth of 9.6% compared to last year.
“Since the beginning of the current six-year term, projects such as trains, airports or refineries have been a political priority; health, no. In 2021, physical investment in health was 15.9 billion pesos, 42% below that reached in 2011, the year in which the highest amount in this area was recorded. If this is analyzed in per capita terms, in 2011 the government dedicated 236 pesos for health infrastructure, but by 2021 only 122 pesos were dedicated. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, only 90 pesos were dedicated,” highlighted an analysis by México Evalúa.
According to data from the Treasury, in physical investment spending, the category of others – which includes autonomous, administrative and general branches, as well as federal contributions to entities – was the one that concentrated the greatest resources, with 53.75 billion pesos, 33.3% more than last year.
It was followed by the energy sector, to which the government allocated 37,291 million pesos, 12.1% less than in the first two months of 2021, while the communications and transportation sector concentrated 1,753 million pesos, 32.6% less in annual comparison.
Meanwhile, supply, drinking water and sewage concentrated 775 million pesos, while education 146 million.
“Reversing the abandonment of public investment in health will be a task of years: an improvement in the 2022 budget is not enough. Although in 2020 there was a peak in investment due to Covid-19, with which it was possible to boost hospital capacity, there is a smaller number in the rest of the medical units, which are generally located in the most remote places and serve patients. the most vulnerable people,” highlighted México Evalúa.