As previously explained, there are currently two working groups collaborating towards the generation of a National Care System that could potentially lead to the creation of some LTC policies or strategies in the next years. In addition, in recent months (by August 2020) as ministries and federal institutions develop their six-years plans as required at the beginning of each presidential period[1], three institutions have included care-related objectives that may bring changes towards the generation of a National Care System[2], including long-term care.

The first institution to include actions toward supporting those in need of care and their carers was the National Institute for Women, one of the few institutions that has been working towards the generation of a National Care System in previous administrations. With the objective of increasing awareness about all individuals having care needs during the life course, of achieving a fairer distribution of unpaid domestic work and care between women and men, and of modifying intergenerational cultural norms towards gender equality, the 2020-2024 Program establishes the need to develop and implement a national care strategy in which co-responsibility between the State, the private sector, the community, and households prevails.

Specifically, its Priority Strategy 2.3 to increase awareness on the need to recognise, reduce, and redistribute household work and care among the family, the state, the community and the private sector, includes three main actions (2.3.1-2.3.3): a) to encourage actions between the state, families, communities and the private sector that allow positioning Care as a human right and the revaluation and redistribution of care work, as well as promoting equality between women and men; to collaborate with other ministries and public institutions in order to develop a National Care System; and to promote organisational culture actions within the Federal Public Administration that allow balancing work responsibilities with personal care needs.

Second, the Welfare Secretary (previously the Social Development Secretary), in its Welfare Sector Program 2019-2024 (DOF 26/06/2020) (Secretaría de Bienestar, 2020) includes the need to incorporate the Right to Care as part of All Human Rights in Mexico. Specifically, in its Priority Objective 1 to contribute towards guaranteeing a basic set of human rights in an effective and progressive way, starting with those most in need, the document states the urgent need for the National Government to develop and ensure the Right to Care as a social right, with the aim of decreasing discriminatory practices, development and wellbeing inequalities present within the current system of care characterised by the lack of public support to those in need of care and their carers. By establishing the need to include the Right to Care within Mexican legislation, the Program envisions access to care services as a right for all individuals who might need to be cared for during the life course but focusing on particular groups with care dependency such as older adults, people with disabilities and young children.

Within Priority Objective 1, Priority strategy 1.1 defines the need to work towards granting access to care services for girls and boys, for people with disabilities and older adults in order to improve their well-being. The strategy includes three main actions:

1. implementing care services for girls and boys, people with disabilities and older adults;
2. contributing to the coordination and implementation of a National Care System based on the care services of the sector;
3. ensuring early childhood care service for children with and without disabilities, with a human-right and differentiated approach, for mothers, single fathers, or guardians who are looking for a job, studying or working.

The third program that includes strategies or actions that could support LTC, is the Health Sector Program 2020-2024 developed by the Secretary of Health. Priority Objective 2 aims to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of all processes within the National Health System to provide comprehensive public health and social care. This program also includes a main action to establish specific actions and strategies for the care of carers of people who are ill, and/or have disabilities or special needs, to prevent excessive burden to the carers.

In addition, Priority Objective 5, which aims at improving health protection by prioritising the prevention of health risks through timely and optimal treatment and control of diseases, includes the Priority Strategy 5.1 to improve coverage, equitable access, and quality in health services for the timely diagnosis and treatment of NCDs, and includes three main actions (5.1.8-5.1.10) related to LTC. These are: to efficiently and safely promote palliative care; to ensure quality of life and relief of patients with advanced disease and in terminal phase; to promote support for patients living with NCDs under a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach that facilitates self-management and the acquisition of skills oriented towards their quality of life; and to establish protocols for the recognition and support of individuals who care for others who are ill, especially those who care for people with disabilities or special needs.

[1] Planning and budgeting within Mexico’s Public Administration is based on a National Planning System, which is structured under the guidelines of the Planning Law and with the active participation of public, social and private sectors. This system is reflected in a National Development Plan that, every six years, is presented to Congress by the President for its revision and approval where appropriate, usually within the first six months of each new administration. Once the National Development Plan is published, all Ministries and Decentralised Federal Institutes have to develop and publish their National Plans for the period. These plans define the priority objectives and main actions they will implement throughout the period and which must be aligned with the National Development Plan.

[2] The National Care System would include three main groups/care needs: early childhood care; older adults and people with disabilities and therefore would go beyond LTC for those with care dependency and their carers, by including nurseries, child care, extended hour schools, etc.

References:

Secretaría de Bienestar. (2020). Programa Sectorial derivado del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2019-2024. Programa Sectorial de Bienestar. https://www.gob.mx/bienestar/documentos/programa-sectorial-de-bienestar