yomexicoNEWS

By Patricia Reaney LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Mexico's ambitious health reforms which aim for universal coverage by 2010 could be a blueprint for change in other poor nations where medical costs impoverish millions of people, its health minister said on Sunday. Dr Julio Frenk, the architect of the plan and a candidate for the top job at the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the reforms show health innovations can make a difference even in countries with high levels of poverty. "The Mexican formula is working. There are 22 million people today that didn't have insurance three years ago. For those people this is the difference between life and death," he told Reuters. The universal insurance plan called Seguro Popular was passed into law in 2003. It is on track to provide health coverage for about 50 million mostly poor people by the end of the decade. Organised by federal and state government, it is free for 20 percent of the poorest people. Others pre-pay a means tested premium based on income. Funding is through taxes, which Frenk stressed have not risen, and savings in health administration costs that have been cut from 8 to 3 percent since he was appointed health minister six years ago. So far 1,700 new health facilities have been built. Twelve regional treatment centres deal with illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Investing is focused on telemedicine, training and logistics to enable swift delivery of vaccines and medicines to remote areas. The Mexican plans have been evaluated in studies published in The Lancet medical journal, which praised the reforms. Frenk said they stemmed from a realisation that spending on healthcare was impoverishing millions of uninsured Mexicans. "The numbers are quite scary. It shouldn't be that way. Health should be a force to fight poverty. It should never be a reason for impoverishment," he added.