The creation of artificial skin is an innovative technological development that has the potential to revolutionize the education and learning process. It is a tool with a new and exciting approach that makes it possible to create realistic and authentic products that imitate the feel of human skin. This is particularly important in health education where students need to have a deep understanding of the functioning of the human body.

People with disabilities are one of society’s most excluded groups and usually have the most difficulties in accessing health, education, employment, and social security. Current policies are either not inclusive, or are still in the initial stages, and thus do not protect the rights of this group. We need rules and regulations that support us in taking action to better protect their rights. Even more importantly, we need to properly understand their needs in order to provide quality care.

Safe and healthy work environments (Entornos laborales seguros y saludables – ELSSA) is a free, voluntary and non-punitive programme from the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) that aims to foster three-way coordination and participation between companies, workers and the IMSS. It looks to implement strategies and actions to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of workers in workplaces, while at the same time promoting productivity and quality.

The medical record system is a solution that has allowed the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) to move from having isolated information models at the three levels of care to having an integrated automated model. This makes it easier for doctors to access a patient’s medical record during a consultation, regardless of the practice, medical unit, care level or city in which the patient received previous medical care.

It is necessary to strengthen HIV prevention measures through the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Since the year 2021, the use of PrEP has been initiated nationwide in Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social ‒ IMSS), being the first institutional initiative in our country. At the last cut-off, there were 2130 people in treatment with Emtricitabine/Tenofovir distributed throughout the national territory, although most of them are in Mexico City and suburban areas.

The Medical Directorate of Mexico’s State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE), through its National Office of Mental Health (Jefatura Nacional de Salud Mental), prioritizes the implementation of the guidelines set out in the Comprehensive Mental Health Programme (Programa Integral de Salud Mental), as approved by the Board of Directors on 25 March 2021, in order to strengthen the holistic, biopsychosocial care of its users.

Good practice in health – service quality.

As health-care systems have evolved to become more complex and due to the resultant increase in patients coming to harm in health care settings, patient safety has emerged as a health-care discipline.

The quality of health services is an urgent necessity in order to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the people who become infected only exhibit mild symptoms, the primary challenge facing health systems is in dealing with moderate or severe manifestations that require hospital care.

As a result of the SARS-CoV-2 health crisis, the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) introduced an initiative to provide training for and consolidate know-how among nursing staff caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the laryngoscope is an essential instrument within clinical practice for the intubation or insertion of endotracheal tubes, including in patients with COVID-19.

Mexico’s State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) has a large proportion of beneficiaries over the age of 70 – nearly 3 million out of a total of 13.5 million. There is a need, therefore, for a specific strategy to provide care for them and offer them the best possible protection in combating the COVID-19 epidemic.

The epidemic caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in other countries at the start of 2020 highlighted the need to prepare an institutional response to face this threat, aggravated by a lack of information and uncertainty surrounding the extent of the risk posed to beneficiaries.

With the aim of providing the medical staff of Mexico’s State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) with relevant information to help them tackle the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) epidemic, a decision was made to draft operational prevention and care guides for patients infected with the virus and for other activities relating to care for beneficiaries in this context.

The “Oxygen at Home” (Oxígeno en Casa) system of Mexico’s State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) is a technological tool that manages the prescription of home oxygen to eligible patients. It also provides monthly monitoring of how the service is being delivered in all medical units with a view to strengthening this health insurance service that protects, promotes and restores health, thereby improving patients’ quality of life.

The Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) developed the online education platform “IMSS Massive Online Courses” (Cursos en Línea Masivos del IMSS - CLIMSS) to promote health education to its beneficiaries and the general public. The aim was to disseminate knowledge that would improve the health of the population.

The telephone assistance programme established by the Mexican State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) provides prompt and timely care to its beneficiaries regarding the epidemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19).

The Medical Directorate of Mexico’s State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) has recently implemented a robotic therapist mental health programme. The programme is delivered with the help of “LaLuchy Robotina”, the humanoid robot, and provides care to hospitalized patients, their families and health-care staff.

The Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) has a systematic overview of materials and all kinds of supplies and services such as: medical equipment, diagnostic tools, surgical and curative material, sanitary products and all types of goods and supplies necessary to face the health emergency caused by COVID-19.

With the declaration of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 as a pandemic in March 2020, the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) set up two new digital services for its beneficiaries which are available 24/7:

In response to the growth in the population of elderly beneficiaries of Mexico’s State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado ‒ ISSSTE), and given the high incidence in this population of chronic degenerative diseases and identified health phenomena, such as the abandonment of treatments and the identification of specific healthcare and treatment needs, a need arose to create the Gerontological Modules Programme, which aims to provide elderly people with integrated and appropriate healthca

One of Mexico’s commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in Target 3.3 and in line with the approach of accelerating action to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, is to attain 95-95-95: that 95 per cent of those who live with HIV know their serological status; that 95 per cent of them receive treatment; and that 95 per cent have an undetectable viral load.

This programme, “Supervision and medical auditing”, is based on the principle of putting the beneficiary at the centre of our work. It is carried out by a new administrative unit set up to implement and strengthen supervision and guarantee the service quality levels offered by the State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) in Mexico.

The Greet, Listen, Respond (Saludar, Escuchar, Responder – SER IMSS) Programme was jointly implemented in 2016 by the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) and the Mexican National Union of Social Security Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Seguro Social – SNTSS) to transform the culture of service, improve the working environment and enhance treatment in the user service provided to beneficiaries. In 2017 it obtained a Certificate of Merit from the International Social Security Association (ISSA).

In an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social − IMSS) is using technology and online platforms to keep people informed about the condition of family members hospitalised with the disease.

To prevent family members from having to leave home, the IMSS has set up a phone line they can call to receive information on the health of their loved ones. Information can also be provided by email.

In the face of the problem posed by the financial deficit of the Sickness and Maternity Insurance in terms of its coverage for affiliates and pensioners, we had to look for methodologies to assess the future trends of revenues and expenses.

To estimate the coverage expense for Medical Expenses for Pensioners (gastos médicos de pensionados (GMP)), in 2013 we developed an actuarial model with which we could estimate the sufficient leveled premium to settle the future expenses based on the results obtained.

This programme, “Promotion of active aging among the beneficiaries of the State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute” (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) in Mexico, encourages the adoption of habits and good practices allowing elderly adults to have a healthy life, based on promoting active aging. With this aim, courses, workshops and awareness-raising sessions are given and recreational activities held for elderly beneficiaries, depending on their needs.

Mexico has the highest mortality due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in people over 45 – 27.2 per cent compared to an average of 7.5 per cent (OECD, 2013). For the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS), cardiovascular diseases have been the main cause of years of healthy life lost due to premature death and disability since 2015. They are also the main cause of emergency department visits and the most common reason for consultations.

This programme improves patient care in the accident and emergency departments of second- and third-level hospitals in the country. It involves identifying dissatisfaction among many beneficiaries, patients and family members with the care they receive in this environment as a result of excess demand in these areas and an inadequate response to the beneficiary’s situation in the accident and emergency unit, regardless of whether the emergency is real or only perceived.

Main Screens:

There are challenges to overcome such as collusion; which could be overcome by considering allocating a key role to consolidated public inter-governmental purchases, in strict compliance with the legal framework to impose sanctions on providers for breach of contract.

The ISSSTE seeks to be involved in the consolidated purchases that the IMSS makes, as part of a strategy and procurement policy for the health sector that should be encouraged to achieve the best contracting conditions for healthcare supplies, such as medication and medical supplies.

Scientific research is an activity that requires a high level of expertise. For the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS), research must have a bearing on medical care capacity and on the generation of new knowledge. Regular evaluation of the CVs of staff who carry out research makes it possible to identify their progress and to guarantee that research is carried out to high quality standards.

The state institute of the ISSSTE in Campeche offers equine therapy as a complementary therapy to traditional techniques in the rehabilitation of a large number of chronic and subacute diseases, including physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis, as well as psychiatric or psychological disorders such as autism, emotional and cognitive problems, to name but a few.

Taking its beneficiary profile into account (48 per cent with computers and internet, 51.2 per cent with a high level of education - degree and post-graduate - and an aging population with a high demand concerning chronic degenerative diseases, the ISSSTE has responded to this situation with the development of an Internet-based electronic educational platform ("PrevenISSSTE close to you) which concentrates on health prevention and promotion to foster the empowerment of its beneficiaries.

The aim of this system, the Sistema de Mantenimiento a Equipo Médico [SMEM or Medical Equipment Maintenance System], is to make administrative management more efficient by maintaining centralised medical care equipment ready to carry out diagnoses and treatments.

Cervicouterine cancer is a priority health problem not only on account of its high incidence and severity, but also because it is preventable in nearly 100 per cent of cases.

For this reason the ISSSTE conducts prevention campaigns, such as the Papanicolaou stain survey which in 2011 reached 32 per cent of those covered in the White group between 25 and 69 years old.

This Programme was devised in November 2009, disclosed in the course of a national meeting involving delegates from all national Provinces and implemented in 2010; from then onwards, it operated on the basis of the registration and follow-up of beneficiaries via an on-line system.

The campaign involved three stages: the first was to alert the population to the risks associated with being overweight and obese; the second focused on emphasizing the consequences of failing to prevent the health problems deriving from excess weight and obesity; and the third focused on emphasizing the responsibility of the IMSS towards the health care of those it serves by providing quality services supported by investment in medical infrastructure and equipment to treat the various chronic and degenerative diseases associated with being overweight and obese.

The characteristics of this programme are:

In the framework of modernizing the process for the control of medical certificates, the Medical Directorate of the ISSSTE adopted a strategy to implement an automated system for the recording of medical certificates in order to ensure the availability of relevant, reliable and transparent information, with the aim of improving follow-up and assessment of behaviour in this respect and of associated variables: name of patient, date, number of days authorized, diagnosis justifying the certificate, unit and doctor issuing the certificate, etc.

In this sense and in addition to its responsibilities, it has developed an IT system on the web called 'Censo Único de Registro de Recursos Físicos, Materiales y Humanos (CRFMH)' [Single Census for Recording Physical, Material and Human Resources] in order to support planning and decision-making processes to improve the service for the rightsholder.

This means that medical services of the State Employees' Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE)), need to be reorganized to find ways of reducing the time needed to provide global care for each patient.

Maternal mortality is a problem largely affecting women in marginalised conditions. Reducing it has become a worldwide priority as part of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations (UN).

In the CARAs, an educational experiential and reflective strategy has been developed, which is managed for and by adolescents and which goes beyond the traditional health care approach, in order to consolidate the health care attitudes and practices of adolescence that will have repercussion for the adolescent in adult life: for the adolescent, the adolescent 's environment and for society.

Two of CARAs strong points are the active participation of young people and the cost-effectiveness of the strategy.