Originally published June 16 2005
Cost of diabetes healthcare could bankrupt Mexico's healthcare system
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Science Daily posted an article on how the increased number of people in Mexico suffering from diabetes could bankrupt the country's healthcare system in the next decade, with the costs of treating diabetics expected to double in the next five years.
Widespread diabetes could bankrupt the country's health system in the next decade, with annual costs of attending to patients with the disease estimated to double within five years, according to a recent report by the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública.
Moreover, statistics from the Health Secretariat suggest the number of patients with diabetes grew seven times over the past 20 years and has become Mexico's fourth highest cause of death in the country, and the INSP report, released last month, said the costs of caring for diabetic patients have grown to $317 million annually.
These costs are equivalent to 34 percent of the budget allocated for public health insurance in Mexico in 2005 and will involve more than 43,000 doctors working in the country.
"In the case that the same pattern of increasing cases of diabetes is maintained, the Mexican Institute of Social Security predicts that from 2004 to 2010 the number of patients will increase by 31.3 percent and by the same amount the costs for medical attention," the INSP report said.
According to Agustín Lara Esqueda, director of the Health Program for Adults and the Elderly in the Ministry of Health, there are 6.5 million Mexicans with diabetes, of which 35 percent are not yet aware they have contracted the disease.
Recent survey results published by the by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, as well as the Mexican Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization, revealed that people living along the U.S.-Mexico border have higher rates of diabetes and are more overweight and obese than national averages in both countries.
The results were compiled from a survey of more than 4,000 people in the border area.
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