Mexico has one of the highest diabetes mellitus mortality rates in the region of the Americas, exceeded only by Guyana and San Vicente and the Granada, according to a report by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The Diabetes Mellitus mortality rate in Mexico for 2014 was 89.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, that is, thousand 286 Mexicans died that year for this evil.

The only two countries in the region that exceed the mortality rate for diabetes mellitus of Mexico are Guyana with 90.6 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants and San Vicente and the Grenadines with 94.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the report "Basic indicators.Health situation in Las Américas 2016 ".

On the other hand, the Diabetes Mellitus mortality rate in Mexico far exceeds the figures of North America, with 14.1, Latin America, with 43.7, and Brazil, with 29.4.

"While in the world the prevalence of overweight and obesity (body mass index = 25 kg/m2) is 36.6%, in the Americas it reaches 59.0%, placing it as the most obese region in the world.

"Similarly, the physical inactivity rate in the Americas is one and a half times higher than the world average (32.4% vs. 23.3%)," warns the PAHO.

Mexico has high percentages in risk factors related to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases: 64.4 percent of adults are overweight, 26 percent perform insufficient physical activity, 15 percent consume tobacco, 21 percent have hypertension and 10.9 percent have high glucose.

show deficiencies in attention

Compared to the countries of the Americas, Mexico invests little in health, it has little nursing personnel and its inhabitants must pay a good part of the attention they receive.

Our country invests 3.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in health compared to the United States, which invests 8.3 percent of GDP or Canada that allocates 7.4 percent.

Even countries like Cuba and Costa Rica invest more than Mexico in the field with 10.6 and 6.8 percent of GDP respectively.

On the other hand, the rate of doctors in Mexico is 21.2 per 100 thousand inhabitants, a figure close to the average of the Americas that is 21.3.

However, the nurses rate is 25.1 per 100 thousand inhabitants, while the average in the Americas is 48.7 and in North America the rate is 110.9 nurses per 100 thousand inhabitants.

In Mexico, 44 ​​percent of total health expenditure leaves the pocket of the patients themselves;figure that puts our country at the level of Honduras with 43.5 percent and Paraguay with 49.4 percent.

In the United States, pocket expenditure represents 11.1 percent of total health expenditure and Brazil, 25.5 percent.