He Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) presented in San Lázaro an initiative to reform the General Health Law so that the prevention and timely detection of breast cancer are culturally and linguistically relevant, in order to guarantee access to medical services for indigenous women throughout the country.
Ensuring that information is available in indigenous languages is not a cultural gesture or a political courtesy: it is a measure of justice, equity and life,” he stated.
At a press conference, Green Party legislator Mayra Espino Suárez, who is promoting the initiative, warned that breast cancer continues to be one of the main causes of death among Mexican women, but its impact is “even more serious among indigenous women, who exceed 12 million in the country,” who face structural obstacles such as distance to medical services, lack of information in their languages and the absence of interpreters.
Talking about breast cancer among indigenous women is not just talking about a medical issue, it is talking about inequality, exclusion and a debt that as a State we continue to owe to the most vulnerable women,” she stressed.
The proposal proposes adding a section
Among the specific measures proposed are:
- Prepare educational and preventive materials in national indigenous languages, linguistically and culturally validated.
- Incorporate interpreters and cultural mediators during consultations, screenings and medical referrals.
- Train health personnel in intercultural communication and timely detection.
- Spread prevention messages through community channels, such as indigenous radio and accessible audiovisual materials.
- Establish coverage indicators and annual evaluation to measure results by region, age and language.
Civil organizations support the initiative
At a press conference, the members of the green bench were accompanied by Ana Parras, from the MILC organization, which focuses on the diagnosis and quality of life of patients with breast cancer, mainly in rural areas, who assured that the right to health is only fully exercised when the information is in their own language, which is why she made an urgent call to promote this initiative and allow indigenous women to receive the necessary care and prevent in time.
At MILC we work for women from different communities and we have seen many times that it is not the lack of services or interest in receiving timely care, but the lack of material in their native languages, in appropriate formats,” she said.
While Espino Suárez emphasized that early detection of breast cancer cannot depend on the language spoken, but rather on the State’s commitment to all women.
Two thousand twenty-five, Year of the Indigenous Woman, must mark a turning point in the history of our country. No more women should be left behind,” she concluded.
JCS
