President Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Mexico City, Dec 29 (RHC) President Andrés Manuel López Obrador today thanked his Cuban colleague Miguel Díaz-Canel for the island's support by sending doctors to strengthen the new national public health system.

In his morning press conference at the National Palace, in which he denied the shortage of medicines in public hospitals, he said that fortunately they are improving with the hiring of doctors from other countries and making calls to have all the ones we need.

He explained that there were almost no consultations needed by patients because they lacked the specialists they required.

For this reason, we are so grateful to Cuba and we endorse our friendship with that people, as well as with other countries such as Belize, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, which unfortunately is now going through a difficult situation, and Brazil, where Beatriz, my wife, will represent me at the assumption of Lula as President, whose election is a blessing for that people.

By denying the new campaign of the opposition and media hostile to his government, he confirmed that all the necessary medicines for 2023 and 2024 for health centers and hospitals have already been acquired.

He recalled that before, only 13 companies that did not even have laboratories were the only ones that could buy abroad what they decided, without considering the real needs. They spent 160 billion pesos (more than eight billion dollars) each year, but since they have run out of money, they are the ones who organize and finance campaigns like those that say there are no medicines or that the ones we buy are ineffective.

A constitutional reform had to be made to eliminate this privilege and enormous corruption that hurt the people, but it was finally done, the Government can now buy abroad without mediators.  In this regard, an agreement was made with the UN.

Now we seek to improve and make the distribution more effective, especially in what is called the last mile, which is the entrance of the medication to each center and hospital, he said. (Source: PL)