Background on Key Figures and Relevance
The Asociación Nacional de Proveedores de la Salud (ANAPS) is a crucial organization representing companies that supply medical products and equipment in Mexico. Their recent response addresses concerns raised by Claudia Sheinbaum, the head of Mexico City’s government and a prominent figure in the federal administration. The situation revolves around delays in delivering medical supplies and insumos médicos, which have led to shortages across public health institutions.
ANAPS’s Response to Allegations
Carlos Salazar Gaytán, the president of ANAPS, clarified that the delays in delivering medical supplies are not due to any wrongdoing or negligence but rather the result of “impossible” timelines set by the federal government. These tight deadlines exceed the operational capacity of companies, making it challenging to meet demands.
Sheinbaum’s Warning and ANAPS’s Call for Flexibility
On September 23, the federal government released a list of companies that failed to deliver medicines and medical supplies despite winning licitations four months prior. In response, Claudia Sheinbaum warned that companies not regularizing their deliveries by September 30 would face financial penalties and ineligibility.
ANAPS urged the authority to show flexibility regarding penalties, as they affect an industry with no inventories struggling to meet massive demands in a short timeframe. The association also highlighted that such strict penalties discourage companies from participating in future licitations, diverting resources to address the immediate demand while facing federal penalization of at least 10% of the total contract volume.
Challenges in Meeting Demands
Salazar Gaytán explained that the procurement and delivery process for health products occurs within an “unreasonably short response time,” which clashes with the industry’s need for at least 120 days to manufacture and distribute medical supplies.
- 60 days for device production
- 30 days for importing 60% foreign-sourced insumos
- 15 days for packaging and labeling
- 15 days for delivery to 300 designated points
Given that the tender announcement was made on June 2 and the first replenishment orders were requested on June 12, companies only have about 10 days for deliveries. Normally, this process should take at least four months.
Salazar Gaytán emphasized that these excessively tight timelines are a result of poor planning in both licitations and public health institution demands.
He pointed out that the original consolidated tender for 2025-2026, involving 175 key medications and medical supplies, was canceled in April due to irregularities and overpriced contracts amounting to 13 billion pesos.
Unprecedented Demand and Industry Capacity
ANAPS asserts that the federal government’s consolidated licitations demand quantities far beyond typical industry capabilities. These volumes can double or triple ordinary international and national supplier demands.
June’s replenishment orders represented 20-25% of the annual projected total, and by July, another 25% was contracted. Consequently, in just two months, nearly 50% of the annual demand has been requested. No company can fulfill this demand, according to Salazar Gaytán.
He estimated that 40-45 ANAPS affiliated companies face this situation, with critical shortages in catheters, implantable devices, and high-specialty products like sutures that rely on imported insumos.
Salazar Gaytán also noted that Sheinbaum’s morning press conference indicated that company noncompliance ranges from 55% to 100%, though all participating companies experience some level of shortage.
He projected that while most deliveries should normalize by September, certain cases might extend to October or November due to manufacturing time requirements. However, monthly 25% replenishment orders would prolong shortages, as these quantities are unfeasible to produce in a few weeks.
