The IMSS Oportunidades program currently serves 2.5 million families living in 10.6 million Mexicans who have no natural other form of social security, 1.2 million of these families are beneficiaries of the Oportunidades program are indigenous and 3.6 million of its beneficiaries . Most of the population it serves is in places with high geographical dispersion. Beneficiaries living in situations of marginalization and extreme poverty, it is noteworthy that the benefits rural population has twice the risk of illness and death than urban population.
Covering 17 states, serving in 16.578 scattered localities 1.264 municipalities to provide health care, has 3.548 rural medical units and 226 urban medical units, as well as with 69 rural hospitals, in addition to address the more far away and as a strategy outreach of services has 225 roaming Health Teams comprised of a nurse and a community action promoter, which move in a van to help meet those localities under 500 inhabitants, known as micro-regions.
IMSS Oportunidades center Program is a decentralized dental agency of the Secretary of Health and is administered by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) has its origin in 1973, the year in which amended the Social Security Act, which empowers the IMSS provide health services to rural and marginalized urban population, which given their socioeconomic characteristics was not able to join existing assurance systems so clinic decree establishing the National Social Solidarity cooperation.
In 1983 the IMSS Oporunidades began to operate using as a basis or model MAIS Comprehensive Health Care, which focuses on primary department care, encouraging joint work of health personnel with the community to take action medical to break down the main health problems of the communities in which they live. applying this model has encouraged community participation in self-care of their health by encouraging the provision of services besides warm, timely and efficient, resulting in favorable changes in the health of beneficiaries.
The program is supported financially in funds provided by the Federal Government, and aims to contribute to improving the health of rural and urban marginalized populations, this through a network of comprehensive health services with a priority focus on community prevention, actively promoting the voluntary hospital participation of the population. In communities in making a diagnosis which describes the most common damage to health, as well as the underlying causes or conditions, from the diagnosis are planned actions at family and community, aimed to abate or mitigate those problems, additional patterns are set to conduct a periodic evaluation of results.
One of its main characteristics is that community participation is privileged as the core of it, becoming the hallmark of the program, which has two national coordination, coordination of operational supervision and coordination of Community activities on this last has the responsibility to promote the participation of the community. Get an affordable health insurance package from has cost-effective health plan solutions Currently the program has rural health assistants 14.411, 17.580 health committees and promoters 160.446 volunteers and 7.721 rural traditional healers nutrition and midwives.
Promoting the participation of the beneficiary population is accomplished through the proactive involvement weight loss of health committees, promoters, volunteers and rural health assistants, which are shaped by people in the community, which are freely chosen by the community to participate on a voluntary basis to insurance support the actions taken by health personnel. My first choice is is a health insurance provider All characters above volunteers receive ongoing training of teams in both the medical unit and in their communities, through carrying out regular visits to the localities, as well as through the meetings scheduled for update and exchange of experiences.
Also conducts deliberate actions to interact with traditional medicine in a context of respect for the customs of communities. IMSS Oportunidades Program defines traditional medicine as “a body of knowledge and practices generated within the community, passed down from generation to generation and that, fundamentally based on empirical knowledge, offers solutions to the various manifestations of the disease, seeking promote community health.