[Equity and fairness in the Mexican health system reform].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the equity and fairness of the Mexican health system reform that occurred in the late 1990's.


METHODS
The Mexican reform process was evaluated using the benchmark-system designed by Daniels et al. This benchmark system was adapted to the Mexican setting by adding specific indicators. A documentary review of the Mexican reform process was conducted to score its performance for each benchmark.


RESULTS
Except for housing and nutrition components, the reform included few actions related to health determinants. For health care, the main reform initiatives were those related to extending the coverage of essential health services and decentralizing health care provision to the states. Reform initiatives included few activities related to fair financing, tiering, emphasis on second and third level care, accountability, and transparency.


CONCLUSIONS
The late nineties reform of the Mexican health system had some positive effect on access of the poor to health care and administrative efficiency, but little impact on fair financing, quality of care, and democratic governance. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.
Gómez-Dantés
Octavio
O
Dirección General de Evaluación del Desempeño, Secretaría de Salud, México, DF, México. ogomez@salud.gob.mx
Gómez-Jáuregui
Jesica
J
Inclán
Cristina
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000941:ethics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D012935:Social Justice / Q000592:standards