Oaxaca - Health

Health

Ninety five percent of Oaxaca’s population receives health care from one or more government programs. Government health services used include IMSS; Seguridad Social, ISSSTE and that related to PEMEX.(infraes) The state sponsors the Servicios de Salud de Oaxaca (SSO) which primarily works to provide antibiotics and other medicines to public dispensaries. It is meant to supplement other federal and state services such as IMSS. There are 1,020 primary care medical facilities and 28 hospitals in the state, 3,240,024 people are registered in one or more government programs and are attended by 3,337doctors, 5,400 paramedics and 6,887 other health providers. Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad de Oaxaca was constructed by the federal government as the first “level three” or high level specialty hospital in the state. It was opened in 2006 and is located in San Bartolo Coyotepec.

One particular health problem the state has is outbreaks of dengue fever during the rainy season, which occurs from June to October. Some of these cases are hemorrhagic. The problem is more severe in the tropical lowlands of the state, near the ocean.

Despite the health services that exist, there are serious problems and deficiencies. As of 1997, life expectancy in the state was 71.5 years, 9 years higher than in 1990. The death rate has decreased from 5.79 deaths per thousand to 5.14. While much of Mexico’s health care system struggles to meet needs, the system in Oaxaca, one of the country’s poorest states, has it particularly bad. The relatively prosperous state of Nuevo León has 3,207 hospital beds, while Oaxaca has only 1,760, despite the fact that the two states have about the same population. There is about the same ratio of doctors between the two states. Forty four percent of pregnant women receive pre-natal care from people who are not medically qualified. 70 women each year die from complications from pregnancy and childbirth, and most of these are avoidable, due to bleeding and eclampsia. For every 100,000 live births in Oaxaca, there are 95.1 maternal deaths, over the national average of 63.3, putting the state in the top five.

The state lacks sufficient numbers of health care workers and lacks specialized hospital and other facilities. Other problems include obsolete medical equipment, lack of medicines. Many of these problems have persisted for decades. Health care providers offer an average of 20,000 consults each day, covering a population of 800,000 people. In 2000, there was only one doctor for every 180 people.

In 2006, health care workers held a work stoppage and march, demanding improvements in the health care system along with the ouster of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Most of the participating strikers were from the hospital and emergency room sectors, from 15 hospitals and 650 health centers in the state.