On May 30 of this year, the “Decree reforming, adding, and repealing various provisions of the General Health Law, to regulate the Health System for Welfare” came into effect, establishing the disappearance of the Institute of Health for Welfare (INSABI), and providing that the functions of said institute will become part of the Mexican Institute of Social Security for Welfare (IMSS-Bienestar), which, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, will be the decentralized entity in charge of providing free health services, medicines and other supplies to people without social security in our country.

In this context and after numerous changes in the medicines purchase and distribution system in this six-year term that led to a complex procedure under the responsibility of UNOPS and INSABI, this will now pass into the hands of the IMSS-Bienestar, which, with the supervision of the Ministry of Health, will be the entity that will participate in the consolidated contracting procedures for the acquisition and distribution of medicines and other health-related supplies.

Thereby, the consolidated purchase of medicines and health materials that last year had an investment of 170 billion pesos for the biannual period 2023 and 2024, must be carried out again under the provisions of the Law of Acquisitions, Leases and Services of the Public Sector, which establishes that public acquisitions must guarantee the State the best available conditions in terms of price, quality, financing, opportunity and respecting intellectual property rights.

The issuance of the regulatory and administrative provisions necessary for the application of said decree is currently pending, therefore, OLIVARES will continue to monitor the implementation of the corresponding modifications and their impact on the various areas of interest to the industry.