Politics · Mexico · 4 hrs ago
Sheinbaum links IMSS medicine shortages to bureaucracy and avoids leadership question
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said paperwork is delaying medicines from reaching some IMSS-Bienestar hospitals.
She said supplies can be sitting in warehouses without arriving at health facilities.
Sheinbaum is visiting hospitals in Yucatán to hear directly from hospital directors, doctors and patients about the problems.
The visits follow protests by IMSS health workers that began in late September over workplace demands.
Workers rejected a proposed 6.8% pay increase, and the government and the workers’ union have opened a new negotiating table.
Asked whether Zoé Robledo will stay as head of the IMSS, Sheinbaum did not answer, saying the immediate priority is to address pay and other demands.
Sheinbaum says the government will outline its response on Monday, including efforts to improve medicine supplies and care.
President Claudia Sheinbaum linked medicine shortages at IMSS-Bienestar health units to bureaucratic procedures delaying deliveries.
She said medicines can be in storage but fail to reach hospitals, and that she is hearing directly from hospital directors, medical staff and patients.
Sheinbaum did not say whether Zoé Robledo would remain head of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
She said the government would first address doctors’ demands and salary issues, and would discuss its response at a Monday news conference.
IMSS workers have been protesting over pay, medicine shortages and other workplace and care concerns.
- Who
- President Claudia Sheinbaum, IMSS workers and IMSS director Zoé Robledo.
- What
- Sheinbaum attributed delayed medicine deliveries to bureaucracy and declined to say whether Robledo would remain in his post.
- When
- October 17, 2026.
- Where
- Mérida, Yucatán, during Sheinbaum’s visit for a Housing for Wellbeing event.
- Why
- She said bureaucratic procedures can delay medicines reaching hospitals; workers are also pressing demands over pay, shortages and working conditions.
IMSS workers
Federal government
Medicine shortages
IMSS workers
Workers are demanding concrete action to address shortages.
Federal government
Sheinbaum said bureaucratic procedures can delay delivery and should be simplified.
Pay and workplace demands
IMSS workers
Workers have protested over pay and other demands, including longer consultation times.
Federal government
Sheinbaum said the government would address salary and medical staff demands.
IMSS workers’ demonstrations began, according to Infobae.
A report cited by El Universal said workers accused the union of not inviting them to salary renegotiations and called for Rafael Olivos’s removal.
Sheinbaum spoke in Mérida about medicine delivery delays, workers’ demands and Robledo’s future.
Sheinbaum said her administration would explain its response at the morning news conference.
- President
- Claudia Sheinbaum
- IMSS director
- Zoé Robledo
- Location
- Mérida, Yucatán
- Rejected pay offer
- 2.9% salary increase and 3.9% in benefits
- Worker demand
- 10% salary increase
2 sources
What people are saying
A veces están en el almacén los medicamentos y no llegan a los hospitales.
lo que tenemos que simplificar al máximo