They warn that reduction of mammograms and Papanicolaou tests, in the Health Sector, could increase the incidence of these diseases
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Mexico City, Saturday, January 1, 2022.- The pandemic generated by SARS-CoV-2 caused a “huge lag” in the care and prevention of diseases such as breast and cervical cancer, which if not treated as a priority could increase its incidence among Mexican women, the Group warned Parliamentarian of the PAN in the Senate of the Republic.
In this context, senators from Acción Nacional proposed to reform the General Health Law, so that the prevention, early detection and specialized care of these diseases is considered a matter of general health.
In this way, they established in the initiative they presented on December 15, it will be possible to design and execute policies aimed at preventing and fully treating breast and cervical cancer.
According to the Third Government Report, the number of mammograms performed by the National Health System was drastically reduced, as they went from two million 452 thousand 706, in 2018, to one million 86 thousand 784 in 2020; that is, more than 1,300,000 fewer studies.
The same happened with cervical cytologies or “Papanicolaou” tests, since while in 2018 one million 809 thousand 793 were performed, in 2020 this number only reached 742 thousand 343; that is, more than a million less.
“This setback in the performance of diagnoses in women will have as a consequence a higher incidence of these diseases among the population, hence the importance of placing their care as a priority in health policies in our country,” warned the legislators.
In the explanatory statement of the project, which will be analyzed in the United Commissions for Health and Legislative Studies, Second, the PAN Parliamentary Group highlighted that in Mexico 7,743 women died from malignant breast tumors in 2020, four percent more than in 2019.
The document also highlights that, in 2020, 4,23 women died from cervical cancer, one percent more than the previous year, according to data from the Third Government Report.
The PAN senators considered that the Ministry of Health has to establish agreements with state authorities, agencies, public and private entities, for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of women affected by these diseases.
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