MEXICO CITY.- Given the lack of medical specialists in various states of the country, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) reported the arrival of 277 Cuban doctors, who are located in seven entities, the vast majority concentrated in Nayarit and Colima.
According to Zoé Robledo, head of the IMSS, the doctors from the island are specialists in internal medicine, with 75 doctors, followed by pediatricians, with 73, and 59 general surgeons.
In intensive and emergency medicine there are 14 specialists; in gynecology and obstetrics and imaging, eight doctors, respectively, anesthesiologists, nephrologists, ophthalmologists and orthopedists, there are 5 doctors for each specialty.
From other branches of medicine, there are 20 medical specialists, according to figures released by the IMSS during the morning press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“Despite the fact that several strategies have been made, there are still many missing in units and schedules. That is why we signed an agreement with Salud de Cuba to strengthen medical care for patients without social security. We already have 277 Cuban doctors working.
“The lack of specialist doctors has brought serious consequences. Doctors who can perform surgeries, consultations. Especially in the most remote hospitals, community hospitals, comprehensive hospitals,” lamented the federal official.
Cuban specialists have a presence in seven states of the country: Nayarit, which was the first to transition to the IMSS-Wellness model, has 92 doctors. It is followed by Colima, with 57, Campeche, with 49, Oaxaca, with 43, Sonora, with 15, Zacatecas, with 11, and Baja California Sur, with 10 doctors.
In the case of Zacatecas, the medical specialists are assigned to Fresnillo, one of the most violent cities in Mexico due to the presence of organized crime, and in Sonora, it will be to the municipality of Cajeme, one of the 50 municipalities with the most intentional homicides, according to with the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).
According to Robledo, there are still 333 specialists to arrive in the country where they are expected to provide their services in Veracruz, Guerrero and Oaxaca.
With information from Forbes.