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Message of the Minister of Health of Mexico, Dr. José Ángel Córdova

I would like to express my gratitude for the invitation to participate in this important event, in which the great commitment of CARSO as a corporate group facing up to the health and social development inequities and inequalities is being once again demonstrated. It is clear that backwardness and inequities are common signs that can be perceived throughout the Latin American countries.

Before this unquestionable reality, we all should assume the challenge once and for all and together try to close the gap and bridge the differences that lacerate and shame our American populations. I am sure that both, society and the Government together can redouble efforts and work in a clearer, more transparent and efficient way in the face of the great number of real and felt health needs that have for so long accumulated. In our country, many of these elements are and have been notably referred to as the sole responsibility of the State. However, addressing these pending issues requires the joint participation of all those interested in this subject matter.

Health is a State duty, a duty in which society is congregated. It is neither the sole responsibility nor the exclusive privilege of the Government. It is not just a matter of providing care for the sick, but rather a means to look forwards to progress, to facilitate development in order to prevent impoverishment and to guarantee full enjoyment of democracy. It is a goal that can only be aspired to when organizations, citizens, physicians, enterprises, legislators and authorities act in a coordinated, orderly and joint manner, each one within its own competence, responsibilities and possibilities, but always together. Mr. Adam Smith already claimed that there can not be a flourishing and happy society when part of its members is poor and unfortunate.

On April 30th of this year Mr. President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa summoned us to build an Alliance for a Healthy Mexico. We will attend his important call, including those that are not present today but have not forgotten the commitment they subscribed in regards to the health of Mexicans. In that occasion he stated what can be done and what should be done for health on the part of the Government and society. These are the questions that have to be raised recurrently and which motivated the establishment of the Alliance for a Healthy Mexico.

As a society and as a country we have to work to tackle these challenges; we need the unity of all the Mexicans to face this important problem successfully. I know that all of those who are present here today have a task to accomplish; that at the institutions, foundations and organizations of the civil society there is something to contribute for the benefit of the women, the children, the elderly and the underserved, among many others.

Based on these ideas, I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to express my deepest acknowledgment to Mr. Carlos Slim Helú, who in a personal way, and also with his family, has worked for the health of Mexicans. For many years, he has supported, through his enterprises or foundations, Government programs aimed at attending surgical non-solved problems in populations who live in very distant communities; the specific program through which this task is being performed is the Ministry of Health Extra Mural Surgery Program, which has been operating throughout different health administrations. At present, he continues working with us, providing support to several State health systems, academic or medical organizations that carry out this important task.

Another example is the one he started with his wife, Mrs. Soumaya Domit, who unfortunately passed away in March 7th, 1999, but who untiringly worked for the benefit of a great number of persons. This work continues its support through aids addressed to people undergoing different organ transplants.

Before this evidence, as I have stated often times in the past, it is our duty to recognize and become participants in the outstanding work, the efforts made, and the great contributions that many conscious individuals and non-governmental groups perform in favor of thousands of citizens in underserved conditions. We should also recognize the contributions of national and foreign enterprises, and those of organizations from the civil society and foundations or philanthropic associations, that contribute every day with equipment, resources or contributions in kind or in cash. The creation of this foundation shows a special vision towards not only providing support inside our country, but also extending these experience to assist Latin American countries.

In regards to Mexico, what we all want today is to focus and make a commitment to a unique national effort towards health, and that we make it explicit; that we spread it and act with resolution, with great honesty and closely watching the optimum exercise of the scarce resources. It is necessary that all Mexicans make a permanent and long-term effort.

I am convinced that we need to work together in order to modify foreseeable or future scenarios, to have an impact on the current deleterious trends where chronic diseases threaten to make health investments less efficient; to put our attention on prevention, and particularly on the construction of a new health culture where we all participate, each one in his/her own field of competence; each one with a sound commitment.

Let us add these social support actions to the strategies of the Federal Government and build a new generation of Mexicans with a better health level and with fewer limitations of access to safe, quality and humane services.

For all the above, the Ministry of Health, as executor of the health services stewardship in charge of the Federal Executive, is today enriched by the implementation of this institution that brings resources for the benefit of our country and those others where it will operate, guided by the clever strategic vision of the Board of Directors.

We wish that in the near future health will become a source of union among the people of Latin America. This institution is taking a fertile first step in this direction.