[The inequality of health services for the uninsured population in Mexico]

In order to assess the coverage of health services for non-insured population receiving health care from the Ministry of Health (SSA), a cross-sectional study was developed. With official statistics of SSA and data from the XI General Census of Population and Housing (1990), ratios of coverage and mortality rates in hospitals were assessed. The data were processed through simple analysis. In addition, states were stratified by groups according to poverty indicators obtained through a factorial analysis with the method of multiple components. The results showed that a polarized health economy for the non-insured population in Mexico is the cause of complex difficulties in the health care provision. The low financial resources affect the distribution of health care services in the states. Seventy-six per cent of the non-insured population is concentrated in those states with the highest levels of poverty, with a potential coverage of only 34.2 per cent and just 63.4 per cent of potential population use. The coverage of health care services in the states with lower poverty indicators is 1.9 times that of the states with higher poverty indicators. It was also observed that hospital mortality rate among children less than one year old was 1.7 times higher in poor regions. In general, the health services coverage is low. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the access to health care and improve the quality of services as well as life conditions of the population in the states with the highest poverty indicators. If this occurs, it will be possible to close the gap in order to build a better National Health System.