The president of Mexico opened a large “super pharmacy” on Friday in an effort to address the struggles of patients across the country who are frequently informed that their required medication is unavailable at their hospital.

The solution proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador involved converting a large warehouse on the outskirts of Mexico City into a central hub for distributing supplies to hospitals across the country.

On Friday, López Obrador stated that the pharmacy will be substantial and will stock all the necessary medications for the healthcare system.

The purpose of the pharmacy is to supplement nearby medical establishments. In the event that a patient is unable to obtain necessary medications from a local hospital, either the patient, their doctor, or the pharmacist can request for it to be delivered from the massive 40,000 square meter (430,000 square foot) warehouse in Mexico City.

President López Obrador promised that the military or Birmex, the state-owned pharmaceutical company, will transport the medications via ground or air transportation within 24 to 48 hours.

Can Mexico overcome its past failures in regulating, purchasing, storing, and distributing pharmaceuticals? The issue is whether its history of poor performance in these areas, coupled with extreme centralization, will hinder progress.

The primary manifestation of this issue is evident in the parents of children who have cancer. They often organize demonstrations, citing the difficulty in obtaining chemotherapy and other medications in recent years.

In the past year, concerned parents caused a traffic obstruction at the airport in Mexico City. They held up a banner with a message, pleading for understanding and compassion: “We have no chemotherapy, treatment, or medication. Please show empathy and sensitivity.”

The problems have killed otherwise healthy people. Because Mexico has had problems in obtaining enough morphine, anesthesiologists in Mexico have had to carry around their own vials of the sedative, drawing multiple doses out of a single vial for routine procedures like spinal blocks during births.

In the US, where there is an abundance of morphine, medical professionals are instructed to extract one dose from a vial and discard the remaining amount.

However, in Mexico, this has resulted in the vials becoming contaminated, causing outbreaks of meningitis contracted through injections in two Mexican states. These outbreaks have resulted in the deaths of numerous individuals, including some Americans who sought medical treatment at clinics located in the border city of Matamoros, which is across from Brownsville, Texas.

In 2021, López Obrador made a significant push to acquire COVID-19 vaccines. This involved utilizing the military to distribute the vaccines and enlisting volunteers to assist with administering them. As a result, by the end of the year, virtually all citizens in Mexico who desired a vaccine were able to receive one at no cost.

According to Mauricio Rodríguez, a professor at Mexico’s National Autonomous University School of Medicine, attempting to duplicate the model of centralized government procurement and military distribution on a large scale for numerous medications is not equivalent.

Rodríguez expressed disbelief at the government’s decision to open a centralized warehouse without providing details on how it will function, particularly for vital medications. He pointed out that this approach poses potential dangers and could potentially disrupt current distribution methods.

Numerous issues predating López Obrador’s inauguration in 2018 have persisted. For years, there have been reports of scandals involving large sums of money wasted on expired medicines stored in warehouses, leaving hospitals without access to them.

Prior to López Obrador’s administration, the national agency responsible for regulating medicines, referred to as Cofepris, was plagued with corruption. Regulators would deliberately delay the approval process for new medicines and solicit bribes in exchange for approval.

Regulators in Mexico frequently issue alerts about counterfeit medications being sold to treat a variety of illnesses, ranging from cancer to heart disease. These fake drugs have been found to closely mimic the appearance of authentic medication, but often do not actually contain any active ingredients.

The sale of counterfeit medication is widespread and profitable in Mexico due to patients or their family members being advised by doctors to purchase drugs from private pharmacies when they are not accessible at government hospitals.

The organization “Zero Shortages” reported a 142% rise in the amount of notifications regarding counterfeit medications from 2021 to 2022.

However, some of the issues stem from decisions made by López Obrador himself. Frustrated by what he perceived as excessive profits earned by drug distributors and importers, the president opted to exclude private companies and instead have the government purchase all medications directly.

Due to the lack of infrastructure, connections, and experience within the government, López Obrador made a deal with the World Health Organization to assist Mexico in obtaining supplies. Despite this aid, Mexico faced challenges in acquiring certain specialized medications, which López Obrador attributed to deliberate interference from pharmaceutical companies.

According to Rafael Gual, the head of the National Pharmaceutical Industry Chamber, the actions taken by the government have caused issues in the distribution process.

Based on a report by the organization “Zero Shortages,” the quantity of unfilled prescriptions in Mexico increased from 1.5 million in 2019 to 22 million in 2021, potentially influenced by disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic.

However, in 2022, there were still approximately 12.5 million unfilled prescriptions.

Dr. José Moya, the representative for Mexico at the World Health Organization, stated that centralized medical warehouses may provide a solution, but the crucial factor is having an effective logistical system.

Moya stated that the consideration of a warehouse of this nature indicates a necessity and that it must be meticulously organized.