Writing/Quadratín Mexico
MEXICO CITY, January 31, 2023.- Luis Fernando Reyes Guzmán and fifty parents of children with cancer asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to issue precautionary measures to Mexico so that the Government is obliged to guarantee, after four years of administration and thousands of victims, the supply of children’s cancer treatments.
Reyes Guzmán, representative of the Civil Association Movement for Health and Social Integrity, commented that they requested the creation of an effective supply network and order the stocks of early diagnosis strategies. The Inter-American Commission has replied that it is studying the problem and the origin of the requested precautionary measures.
Bryan LeBarón, an activist who supports the movement, pointed out that in Mexico there is a public policy that discriminates against children with cancer and unfortunately the figures are not clear, “the state has hidden the figures that could let us know the number of real victims due to shortages , but today it must be guaranteed that children no longer die due to lack of medicines, so if Mexico does not listen to them, we ask the world to help us.”
Luis Fernando, whose son lost his eye because he was not given the medicine in the prescribed time: so says the doctor who performed the removal of the eye, stressed on behalf of the parents who suffer from this situation, who have spoken with the highest authorities , “They have promised us with words, they have signed agreements and they have sworn that there will be medicines but every day children continue to die due to lack of treatment… our children have been re-victimized, they have not been threatened or intimidated, criminal proceedings have been initiated against us and we have been stigmatized for fighting for the lives of our children.”
And the Parents of Children with Cancer affirm that the Mexican State has systematically violated the right to Health, Integrity and Life recognized in International Instruments, and criticized that in Mexico the life expectancy of a minor with cancer is 57 percent, while in OECD countries with similar economies life expectancy is 80 percent.