People’s Mañanera January 20

ByPedro Gellert

Every day, President Claudia Sheinbaum gives a morning presidential press conference and Mexico Solidarity Media posts English language summaries, translated by Mexico Solidarity’s Pedro Gellert Frank. Previous press conference summaries are available here.

Universal Healthcare Credential: A Collective Dream

The Universal Healthcare Credential was presented. It will guarantee healthcare regardless of the individual’s insurance plan affiliation, consolidate medical information in both physical and digital formats. It will be launched in March.

President Sheinbaum explained that it will enable a single medical record to be compiled and strengthen the public healthcare system, emphasizing that it is “a dream not only held by the President, but by all Mexicans.”

Democracy Against Fraud & Authoritarianism

Sheinbaum recalled that the former ruling party sustained itself through authoritarianism and repression, and that democratic advances were achieved thanks to popular mobilization. The President mentioned the attempt to strip López Obrador of his immunity and past electoral fraud.

She noted that “all those who committed electoral fraud, who became the PRIAN, were part of the neoliberal model that impoverished the people and took away rights; those who endorsed the fraud now present themselves as champions of democracy and call us authoritarian.”

Measles: Prevention & Vaccination in Mexico

The Mexican government reported that, given that Canada and the U.S. are no longer measle-free, more than 11.85 million vaccines have been administered, with targeted efforts in Jalisco, Chiapas, Michoacán, and Guerrero to protect the population and contain outbreaks.

IMSS-Bienestar: Transformation of the Healthcare System

Sheinbaum explained that the Seguro Popular government healthcare insurance program was a failed model that left 90 hospitals non-operational. Today the public system is stronger and fully functional. The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) will have six new hospitals in Campeche, Sonora, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, and Yucatán, and IMSS-Bienestar will open the Women’s Oncology Hospital in Mexico City in February.

Enrollment in IMSS-Bienestar is voluntary; only Nuevo León, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, and Guanajuato have not joined the program, and enrolling the population through healthcare credentials will depend on the decision of each state.