Jorge Ricardo / Reform Agency
Friday, January 20, 2023 | 19:08
Mexico City.- With Claudia Sheinbaum, Head of Government of Mexico City, as a special guest, the IMSS celebrated its 80th anniversary and with the promise of its directors to build, now, a free health system for all.
“We have reached 80 years to begin fulfilling dreams, and one in principle: that any Mexican, that any Mexican, regardless of their economic, social or cultural condition, be treated as they deserve, with doctors, specialists, studies and medicines: the dream! of the IMSS Bienestar!”, affirmed the director of the Mexican Institute of Social Security, Zoé Robledo.
“The IMSS that emerged in the Revolution responds today to the historical call to contribute to the purposes of the Fourth Transformation (). There are still many challenges, it is true, but we are on course and we have conviction: to be the IMSS of the future, to be the IMSS of the iron will to transform the public life of Mexico, to make the IMSS of the fourth transformation: The people heal the people”.
The celebration of the Institute, created on January 19, 1943, by President Manuel Ávila Camacho, was held in the Congress unit of the Siglo XXI National Medical Center, where, in addition to Sheinbaum, the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer attended. ; and the governors of Tlaxcala, Lorena Cuéllar, and of Zacatecas, David Monreal.
Also the Secretary of Labor, Luisa María Alcalde, and of Agriculture, Víctor Villalobos; the head of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), Jorge Baruch, and of the National Sports Commission (Conade), Ana Gabriela Guevara.
Sheinbaum, who arrived late, affirmed that the IMSS has overcome several obstacles in 80 years, such as the privatization of services or the conception, he said, of rights as privileges.
“The defense of this institution that is so important for national life is one of the noblest tasks of this Government of the Fourth Transformation, and one of its greatest challenges. All of us who participate in this historic moment want to say that the defense and strengthening of the IMSS is and will continue to be non-negotiable,” he said.
The Head of Government assured that the best way to celebrate the birth of the IMSS is that the new system, IMSS-Bienestar, is being built to replace the failed Insabi.
“I am sure that when future generations talk about the moments that changed the history of the Mexican Social Security Institute, of course the name of President López Obrador will be there,” she said.
In addition to hundreds of agency employees, legislators Beatriz Paredes, Aleida Alavez, Reginaldo Sandoval, Benjamín Robles, Patricia Mercado and Citlalli Hernández also attended. Also sports promoter Nelson Vargas.
“Together we will make history by building the best health system in the nation,” said the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer.
Moving his speech between the future and the past, the official asserted that today the IMSS already guarantees the social security of Mexicans with sufficient facilities and qualified personnel.
“An IMSS without corruption, an IMSS transformed for future generations,” he promised.
In the auditorium, recognitions were also given to Institute workers between 40 and 53 years old and a dramatized fragment of the tragicomedy “La Celestina” was read, all under the leadership of the singer Regina Orozco.
On the 80th anniversary, the director of the Institute, Zoé Robledo, also gave a report on figures: 500,000 workers, seven national medical centers, 25 highly specialized medical units, 251 hospitals, 1,516 units, 88 million medical consultations family, 21 million family consultations, 1.3 million surgical interventions and every day 1,128 children are born in an insurance facility.
Robledo thanked Sheinbaum for his presence, as well as his support in dealing with the Covid pandemic.
The General Secretary of the Workers Union, Arturo Olivares, welcomed Sheinbaum.
“The fact that you are here encourages us and makes us feel supported by a successful woman with a great future as a public servant,” he told her.
At the end of the speeches, La Sonora Santanera gave a concert.
