TİKA Provides Health Aid to Indigenous Mayans in Mexico

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided the necessary material and equipment support for the diagnosis of diabetes in the units of Oxkutzcab Regional Hospital located in Yucatán State, the area with the densest indigenous population in Mexico.

More than twenty-five million people in Mexico reside in the central and southern parts of the country. The indigenous population mostly lives in rural areas where there is limited access to basic services for nutrition, clean water, housing, health care, and social security. Among these indigenous communities are the descendants of the Mayans, who once reigned in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. The indigenous Mayans live mostly in the Yucatán Peninsula.

In cooperation with the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), Mexico's Social Security Institution (IMSS BIENESTAR), and the IMSS Foundation, TİKA supplied a portable glycosylated hemoglobin analysis device and other necessary equipment (such as control solutions, capillary, and test kits) to 15 rural, 1 urban, and 2 mobile clinics under the Oxkutzcab Regional Hospital, which provides services mostly to indigenous Mayans with diabetes. Thanks to this support, the early diagnosis of diabetes, the minimization of the complications of the disease in the early stages, and the facilitation of checkups and follow-ups of diabetes patients in areas with limited access to healthcare were made possible.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the project, Saul Vicente Vazquez, Director of International Relations at the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) in Mexico, stated that since 2016, collaborations through projects oriented towards indigenous peoples with TİKA had been increasing. Vazquez said the following: "I would like to thank TİKA for carrying out such a meaningful project. I am grateful to Turkey for all of their support."