I spent my days of my trip in Guanajuato, the first place my feet had touched soil in Mexico over four years ago. Its a fabulous colonial town set in the middle of a valley and extending outwards, filling the entire bowl of land with colorful homes reached by steep steps extending through the endless network of callejones (alleys). I found myself nostalgic for those first moments when I had eaten a taco al pastor, heard the sights and sounds of my first marketplace, and those moments when I would be terribly lost amongst the alleyways, only to come upon an amazing, sheltered plaza with a fountain that hadn´t been used in fifty years. While there I had the opportunity to assist my friend Erick, aka Dr. G, as a translator in a medical clinic (which is a startling change from the first time I was in Guanjuato and fumbled throught the days with my broken Spanish!). It proved to be an interesting introduction for me to the medical system in Mexico, and my medical/herbal/traditional healing guided trip. Here are some tidbits for you all to savor:
-a doctor is paid $40 per day for 8-10 hours of work
-a reasonable home close to the center of town is the equivalent of $300-400 monthly
-average minimum salary in Mexico is $4 per day
-there are a few varieties of healthcare programs in Mexico, the clinic that we visited was for union and government workers. As a patient you may wait for hours to see the physician for 15 minutes (¿sounds farmiliar?)
-within the government hospital the physician may only reccomend medications from a fixed list. Recommendation of drugs outside of that list may case that doctor´s termination.
-an impromtu conversation with a physician in a cafe revealed that he couldn´t pay his bills if he didn´t have another job: he works at the clinic and has a private practice, meaning he works virtually everyday. He also quite liberally expounded upon the corruption within a public health system that has been developed to "assist" the poor. His beleif was that it just trickled money back into the hands of the government and didn´t reach those who neded it.
-lack of communication between the various healthcare systems appears to cause failures in providing adequate care, particularly to the underserved population. One group might have excesses of a medicaiton that are needed within another group, etc.
-I think people are coughing and suffering respiratory illness from the visible levels of air pollution!
I guess the point of this discussion is to show that healthcare systems in most countries are simply a mess. In the words of the formally interveiwed doctor, its our job to make changes, to work, and struggle to see these changes affect one person, then their families, and ripple further outward to affect the world.
With many blessings sent out to all of you on the pungently scented waves of marigolds decorating every corner of Morelia, Michoacan in preparation for the day of the dead!
abrazos y besos
