Mexico City. At the inauguration of the 158th Academic Year of the National Academy of Medicine, the Minister of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela, emphasized that in 2021 there will be the opportunity to justify the work of the doctor, to move towards a more humanistic medicine, “with a program aimed at the real needs of the population at the time of Covid-19”.
He recalled that the Secretariat has announced the rescue of humanist medicine in 2020 and that to achieve this requires the transformation of the national health system according to the principle of social justice.
He indicated that for this, “it is important to keep in mind that ethically-focused medical research with a presence in the field from the first level of care is the basis for the development of a strong and solid health system, which must be accompanied by generations of physicians committed to their country ”.
At the opening ceremony, which also included the rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Enrique Graue Wiechers, Secretary Alcocer Varela said that even when they are going through difficult times as a result of the pandemic situation worldwide and in Mexico in particular, “ we are clearer than ever to realize the human right to health protection. For our country, this means providing access to nearly 70 million Mexican men and women who do not have a social security mechanism ”.
He added that “there is no doubt that Mexico will emerge stronger from the epidemic with a better health system. Within a few months, we have converted more than 900 hospitals to treat patients with Covid-19 and are providing them with supplies and health personnel for their surgery. “
José Halabe Cherem, president of the National Academy of Medicine, said in turn that this institution will give a voice to academics to make their knowledge visible. “For this purpose, we will form committees for each specialist group so that they can raise as experts the problems and possible solutions they face in their corresponding areas.”
In this way, I continue, we want to be inclusive and capitalize on talent for the benefit of Mexican medicine. He announced that in the coming weeks, various groups of academics in the Republic will be convened to form these committees to discuss and propose health policy change.
He added that distance learning will also be strengthened, the update of the Covid-19 pandemic will continue, and with regard to the awards awarded annually, a new one will be added to recognize the merits of health science education.
For his part, Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez, Mexican ambassador to the UN, who presided over the conference “The pandemic and its consequences”, emphasized the opportunity that medicine currently offers, namely “the fact that health was resurfacing. as a supreme value, of paramount importance. Today health is considered by many people along with justice and equality ”.
He explained that “as long as medicine is to continue to adopt itself as the reigning head of health sciences, medicine also needs to be revised, updated and prepared to meet perhaps the greatest, most complex challenges in its history. Not only to get out of the crisis, but also to be prepared for the next ”that may arise in the future. “We are at the head of social priorities,” he said.