Non-communicable disease prevention in Mexico: policies, programs and regulations

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, have become a leading cause of the death in Mexico. The federal government has addressed this issue through developing NCD prevention plans, regulations and policies (PRPs) that seek to address social and environmental factors, which was led by the National Institute of Public Health and Ministry of Health in concert with various non-governmental organizations. This review aims to synthesize and summarize national NCD prevention PRPs addressing social and environmental factors passed from 2010 to 2016, and to assess the extent to which these efforts successfully addressed factors contributing to the epidemic. In total nine federal NCD prevention PRPs were identified from a scan that examined executive and legislative PRPs, which identified five documents. A scoping review was conducted for evaluation studies and reports corresponding to these PRPs. The majority of PRPs focused on nutrition, specifically the access and promotion of food. Studies and reports demonstrated that taxation on energy-dense low-nutrient foods and sugar-sweetened beverages were the most effective. Other PRPs had various issues with implementation, mostly related to adherence and resources available. Overall, there lacked evidence of evaluative work on several NCD prevention PRPs, specifically assessing implementation and effectiveness. Additionally, PRPs did not sufficiently address integration of clinical, social, environmental approaches and access to physical activity. While the Mexican federal government has taken the initial steps to address the multifactorial causes of NCD, firm political commitment and investment of significant resources are still needed.

Integrated Measurement for Early Detection (MIDO) as a digital strategy for timely assessment of non-communicable disease profiles and factors associated with unawareness and control: a retrospective observational study in primary healthcare facilities in Mexico

“…8 During the past decade, the Mexican government has implemented plans, regulations, policies and programmes to tackle NCDs, mainly focusing on nutrition; however, few population-based screening programmes have been implemented. 9 Only two studies have been published investigating screening and prevention in primary healthcare at the national level, and these reported little, if any, benefit. 10 11 Moreover, the traditional screening approach only reaches the population already seeking healthcare services at health facilities.…”

Testing Scalability of a Diabetes Self-Management Intervention in Northern Mexico: An Ecological Approach

“…The regional implementation coordinator role was central to this multilevel approach because he was able to facilitate a learning system rooted in dialogue among stakeholders after the initial training and during the entire scaleup process. This demonstrates effective methods for scaling chronic disease programs, which as seen in the literature have been difficult to accomplish (9,33).…”

“…The high prevalence of NCD risk factors nationwide is linked to the high prevalence of obesity (40.2% among women and 30.5% among men) and hypertension (20.9% among women and 15.3% among men) among adults over 20 years of age ( 4 , 5 ). These risk factors are influenced by a host of social, economic, and environmental contributors, such as a lack of healthy social networks and support, living in food swamps, and issues with community safety due to violence in the country ( 6 – 9 ). All contributors disproportionately affect aging low-income populations in Mexico, who in addition have limited access to quality health care increasing their risk for NCDs and associated complications ( 6 , 9 ).…”

“…These risk factors are influenced by a host of social, economic, and environmental contributors, such as a lack of healthy social networks and support, living in food swamps, and issues with community safety due to violence in the country ( 6 – 9 ). All contributors disproportionately affect aging low-income populations in Mexico, who in addition have limited access to quality health care increasing their risk for NCDs and associated complications ( 6 , 9 ).…”

Improvement on Biometrics in Individuals Undergoing a 10 and 21-Day Lifestyle Intervention in a Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Mexico

“…In 2015, 80% of all deaths were attributed to NCDs in Mexico. Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus cause half of these deaths and in recent years, Mexico has experienced a rise in the prevalence of NCDs [ 2 ]. The increment in this prevalence is due to unhealthy lifestyle challenges such as a great number of low cost fast food choices with high salt, fat and sugar; reduction of time for preparing food, increase of the industrialized food publicity, and sedentary work and reduction in the physical activity [ 3 , 4 ].…”