HAVE YOU DECIDED LIVING IN OR VISITING PUERTO VALLARTA OR BAHIA DE BANDERAS NAYARIT?
Congratulations! You have chosen living in the safest tourist location in Mexico. Why I can assume this? Because we have the highest ratio of private health services per number of inhabitants…let’s review statistical information: According to INEGI 2005, the statistical government bureau (www.inegi.gob.mx), there are in Mexico 2822 registered hospitals & clinics for 100 million inhabitants, this means 1 clinic per 35,500 inhabitants. In Puerto Vallarta, with the new Hospital Cornerstone and CMQ Premiere, we will have one clinic per 18,000 inhabitants, double the average in Mexico. With the new Corominos & Castillo Diagnostic Services, there will be 3 MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Image) machines in Vallarta; this means one MRI per 70,000 inhabitants, the rate in Mexico is one MRI per 600,000 inhabitants, so we will have 9 times more MRIs per inhabitants here than in the rest of the country. There will be 3 or 4 cardiac catheterism rooms, hemodynamic laboratories, for myocardial infarctions and heart blockages, a really superior ratio than other areas in Mexico.
What does it mean? It means that we will have better, more complete and hopefully cheaper private health services in Puerto Vallarta (Supply & Demand market law). What’s next? The next step corresponds to quality. Customers, particularly foreign patients, need to know how to look for updated and western medical standard trained doctors. There are some common clinical situations where a patient (trying to save some dollars) is unnecessarily exposed to health risks:
a) It is a custom in Mexico to prescribe an aspirin-like drug named dipirona / neomelubrina. While it is harmless to Latinos, this medication may destroy the white and red blood cells of those of Anglo-Saxon descent, causing severe anemia and serious bone marrow problems. As a matter of fact, this was one of the reasons why Dr. Vincenzo Marcolongo created IAMAT, THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MEDICAL ASSITANCE TO TRAVELLERS, www.iamat.org organizing an International Medical Directory of clinics and Doctor Offices where a Traveler could find higher standards of medical attention.
b) In Mexico, it is really common to prescribe sulfa drugs for diarrhea and respiratory infections. According to the Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy 2005, sulfas are the fourth line of treatment for these diseases, because of a high frequency of allergic and serious skin reactions.
c) It is really common for some doctors to ask for a laboratory study called “Reacciones Febriles” (agglutinin reactions), although this study has a small utility in case of severe fever, if misinterpreted, it carries the risk of prolonged and unnecessary treatments trying to eliminate the normal immunological response that this study (with a very low specificity and sensibility) reflects.
What to do? Look for doctors who are Board-Certified, with complete credentials. Ask to your Doctor about his/her current BOARD-CERTIFICATION, and FEDERAL SPECIALIST CARD, these give you some guarantee of quality.
