Patient organizations in Mexico act as parallel health system

A new report titled ‘The parallel health system that Mexico does not recognize, but depends on’ reveals that patient organizations in Mexico are operating as a parallel healthcare system to compensate for structural deficiencies in the public sector.

Based on research conducted between November 2025 and May 2026 by Insight Comunicación Estratégica y Humana and PAS, with data provided by Ipsos, the study found that 91% of participating organizations rate the public health system as deficient or very deficient. Only 7% consider it acceptable, and 2% rate it as good, with no organization labeling it as excellent.

Key structural challenges identified include medicine shortages (33.33%), a lack of trained medical personnel (20%), and long wait times for diagnoses and treatments (13%). Additionally, 73.33% of organizations believe primary care physicians lack the necessary training for rapid and precise diagnoses. The report also notes that 65% of participants feel patients are not benefiting from research advancements, leading to the use of obsolete therapies. To address these gaps, these associations have developed comprehensive models covering transportation, nutrition, emotional support, and medical monitoring.