Background on the Current Situation
Following a six-year period marked by medicine procurement issues leading to shortages, the first purchase exercise of Claudia Sheinbaum’s government –against initial optimistic expectations– continues to face problems, potentially causing further shortages for public institutions.
Alarm Raised by Medicine Producers
The latest warning came from the group of patent medicine producers, who highlighted that 40% of purchase-sale contracts remain unfinalized.
The Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Research Industries (AMIIF), representing over 60 Mexican companies of national and international capital, stated that only 70% of the formalized agreements with institutions have a replenishment order. Without this, pharmaceutical companies cannot deliver medical supplies.
AMIIF’s director, Larry Rubin, urged authorities to prioritize quality, transparency, and sustainability in their purchasing policies while avoiding practices that jeopardize supply continuity, availability, or patient safety.
Understanding Convenio Formalización
AMIIF explained that convenio formalización refers to the legally and contractually established agreements between parties involved in a procurement. These agreements outline products or services to acquire, quantities, prices, delivery timelines and conditions, as well as obligations for both parties.
Government’s Procurement Challenges
The consolidated purchase process has been through a critical phase where potential fraud was detected and prevented. Subsequently, the procurement process was invalidated and replaced.
Despite these challenges, the Mexican government continues to display inadequate management in acquiring what was previously termed a “historic purchase” due to its volume and a budget of 43,000 million pesos.
Recent Procurement Initiatives
On January 1st, the administrative process began, with Birmex launching a tender for two acquisition processes:
- Consolidated purchase of medicines for 2025-2026, with deliveries starting from March 2025.
- Complementary purchase to address urgent needs of healthcare service units, with deliveries beginning in January and February.
Out of the 3,900 keys licitated in this procedure, proposals were received for 98.5% of the required pieces by governmental entities.
Additionally, 348 keys were negotiated through single-source and patent tables.
The government confirmed it received offers for almost 99% of the pieces requested by institutions.
Emerging Issues and Investigations
Although things seemed to be progressing positively, both the private sector and authorities soon identified and thwarted what appeared to be a potential corruption case.
The preliminary amount mentioned was 13,000 million pesos. Subsecretary of Health, Eduardo Clark, reported that 175 different medicines and healthcare supplies were purchased at an inflated price compared to the lowest offer.
Clark mentioned that the suspicious lot’s massive amount equates to building 3 to 4 hospitals with 350 beds.
In parallel, Anti-Corruption Secretary Raquel Buenrostro initiated her own investigation.
Buenrostro has since revealed a potential overpricing of 15,000 million pesos in the consolidated medicine purchase. She identified 18 companies selling medicines without proper health licenses.
Current Status and Future Outlook
The Health Secretariat is working to restore the procurement process and meet medicine needs, albeit behind schedule according to the official timeline.
The consolidated medicine purchase process is not derailed but has fallen behind. The Health Secretariat addressed industry warnings about irregularities, and the Anti-Corruption Secretariat is performing its duties.
However, the historic 2025-2026 consolidated medicine purchase remains stalled, with the potential effect of shortages looming. It is hoped that any delays will be minimal, and progress continues towards establishing an efficient medicine procurement system that has shown evident flaws for six years.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is the current issue? The Sheinbaum government’s medicine procurement process faces potential shortages due to ongoing problems, including unfinalized contracts and detected corruption.
- What did the AMIIF warn about? AMIIF raised concerns that 40% of purchase-sale contracts remain unfinalized, threatening medicine supply to public institutions.
- What actions have been taken by authorities? Authorities invalidated and replaced the procurement process due to potential fraud, and are now investigating corruption cases.
- What is the financial impact of the detected corruption? The potential overpricing due to corruption amounts to building 3 to 4 hospitals with 350 beds.
- What is the current status of medicine procurement? The Health Secretariat is working to restore the process and meet medicine needs, though it has fallen behind schedule.
