Good yield

After reading articles about the first hit of the swine flu in Mexico, I think the Mexican Health Ministry, handle the swine flu well because of good planning by the administration and the response from their government. Putting in place surveillance system to help not just their country but also others in the world has created awareness about the swine flu now H1N1 to lots of people in the world. It’s been good to know how the WHO, CDC and other nations stepped in and how the media all over the world have been talking and creating awareness of this deadly flu. Even though Mexico does not have the number one health care system their response to the HINI has been good, reflecting that putting in place the right administration and preparedness on a health concern can be handled well as showed by the Mexican health officials.

The health care system is doing well but can still do better!

Good Response

From my perspective...

Mexico did respond quickly and swiftly to the Swine Flu, as they mobilized their citizens and let the other countries including Canada and the US know about their situation immediately. When Mauricio Hernandez came to talk to us at the USC Global Health Lecture Series, I was able to get the sense that Mexico was well-prepared, as they had protocols ready to respond to issues such as H1N1. It definitely seemed like Mexico did a much better job than China did responding to the SARS crisis in 2003, as their efficient response allowed time for other countries to really respond themselves. Now, after looking at a few blogs on the web, i realized that there's mixed reviews from its citizens.

Many do feel like the government needs to get more credit for doing a good and competent job at handling the situation, while others feel that the government did not react properly until the flu made it to the press. I took everything with a grain of salt. In the end, I did feel like Mexico could have interacted better with the World Health Organization even if they didn't agree, there has to be a better way of making sure we're all working together in the global sense. It just kind of felt like Mexico and WHO completely were not on the same page.

Either way, hopefully, many countries start having plans to deal with these global issues as a result of scares like this.

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

From what I’ve heard, Mexico had beforehand created a plan for the H1N1 outbreak and then followed it when the outbreak occurred. With this, they followed the most important rule in prevention of the spread of infectious diseases: minimize contact between infected and uninfected people. The government achieved this through quarantines, isolations and closures or discouragements of people traveling to crowded places, such as schools. In my opinion, the government’s response was effective since there was minimal lag time between the start of the outbreak and the government’s decision to initiate their response plan. In addition, they sought help from other countries and the WHO. As a result, they were able to limit the spread of the H1N1 virus throughout the country and only had to close the schools for less than two weeks. Most importantly, the government decided to attack the problem instead of debating it or even hiding it. In essence, they were effective since they put the people instead of the politics first.
This response reflects positively on their health care system since it shows their level of preparation and lack of administrative barriers. Mexico has always been considered to have an inadequate health care system because of the limited amount of money they spend (6.6% of GDP) and their lack of technology. Their response shows their problem isn’t lack of skill, planning or execution but simply lack of expenditure. Mexico has the potential to develop a great healthcare system since the groundwork has been laid with the proper tools and infrastructure and once the money becomes available, they will develop a better system than their neighbor, the United States has in every aspect.

criticism over efficiency

Unlike China tried to hide seriousness of the SARS virus back in 2003, Mexican government responded to the emergence of the swine flu virus promptly and efficiently to keep virus under control. They quarantined infected and shut down schools, restaurants and other public places where large crowds gather to limit spread of the swine flu virus. Through news, I have seen the Mexican government even distributed breathing masks to curtail the disease’s spread.
However, the Mexican government also received criticism for taking long times (7-8 weeks) for the dead from the swine flu virus to seek medical attention to receive earlier treatment and prevent further victims. Also Mexicans depends on outside resources to diagnose/identify the strain of virus domestically.
As the swine flu virus has unfolded, the Mexican health system has come under increasing pressure. I believe Mexico has universal health insurance but they at same time face overcrowded and understaffed clinics and hospitals. Mexicans have everything from a small, private system to huge universal health insurance programs that mix private, public and employer funding. Despite the array of services, it's a more likely to be an unequal system because of limited resources (Health care professionals and equipments) and lack of infrastructure/management within the system. Mexico is one of the countries who spends the least % of their GDP on health care budget. but it is surprising to me that even Mexico has universal health care which US doesn’t have.

props to mexico!

Two weeks ago Mauricio Hernandez, deputy of the Ministry of Health in Mexico, gave a lecture on this very H1N1 topic as guest lecturer of the Institute of Global Health at USC. From what he shared in this lecture and in the hour long question and answer time held with PM564 I was very impressed with the honest response of Mexico regarding the H1N1 outbreak. Mauricio Hernandez conveyed Mexico’s quick response of its medical personnel of the increased number of flu cases. Procedures, which were already in place for reporting suspicious outbreaks, were activated and patient samples were sent off to the lab for analysis and places of gathering were closed for quarantine. Mauricio Hernandez, displayed transparency to the WHO regarding the outbreaks in Mexico, confirming the disease only 10 days after the initial reported outbreak. It must be noted this was done with lightening speed and great integrity compared to China and the Avian Flu pandemic that occurred a few years back. I believe these events testify to the effective pandemic response plans of the Mexico health system in response to infectious disease. Mauricio Hernandez did comment on a lack of vaccines, which are not direct a result of being unprepared but rather due to world politics; this is a tragedy, in my opinion.

As all health care systems, Mexico has lots of room for improvement. During the question-and-answer time Mauricio commented on how the Ministry of Health lacks authority with decentralized state jurisdiction. The health care system needs improvement and stronger regulations controlling the expenditures of the budgeted health care money. He mentioned States often misuse the budgeted health care money for other state expenses. Despite these needed improvements, overall, I was impressed with Mexico’s quick response, their transparency and the implementation of their action plan.

Immediate action & planning ahead

I think in this scenario, Mexico was kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. H1N1 did not originate in the country--it actually originated here in California and then spread to Mexico--but they will forever suffer the stigmatism that they were the ones who subsequently "infected" the rest of the world. In terms of how Mexico handled the flu outbreak, I think they went about it in a very logical manner. They shut down many businesses, schools, and churches--basically places where a lot of people would congregate--and quarantined those who had the illness. They issued warnings to their own citizens traveling out of Mexico to be aware of not spreading anything outside of the country. They were also extremely cooperative with the international community and the WHO in providing information about the outbreak and what was going on in-country to contain it.

Mauricio Hernandez, deputy of the Ministry of Health in Mexico, was here at USC a few weeks ago and he mentioned that they were able to go about containing the disease and maintaining a certain level of public calm because they had emergency plans in place in the event of an outbreak such as this. There wasn't much confusion on the part of government and administration because there was actually a protocol that was set forth long ago, and all they had to do was follow it. I think this was prudent planning on their part; and evidently, it came into good use.