The following information was provided by the Secretary of Health (Secretario de Salud) of the Health Secretariat of Jalisco (Secretaria de Salud Jalisco) in correspondence dated 8 October 2002.

[Translation]

There is a national registry of doctors at the Directorate of Professions of the Secretariat of Public Education (Direccion General de Profesiones de la Secretaria de Educacion Publica, SEP) of doctors who have graduated from medical schools in Mexico. In addition, there is a registry of doctors in the state of Jalisco in the Directorate of Professions of the State (Direccion de Profesiones del Estado). Nevertheless, this does not mean that these registries are current/active, since we know that approximately 30 per cent of medical professionals are not in active practice.

At the Health Secretariat of Jalisco we have registries of doctors who work in public and social security institutions, as well as doctors who want to open a clinic (consultorio).

When asked about whether a certified doctor who worked in Guadalajara could be located if he/she moved to another state, the Secretary of Health responded in 11 October 2002 correspondence:

[Translation]

If the doctor does not advise the Health Authority (Autoridad Sanitaria) it is not possible to locate the doctor. This is because each state registers its doctors in such a way that if the doctor that was practicing in one state decides to change to another state without advising the Authority of where he is moving it is not possible to identify him.

In fact, there exists the possibility that a doctor can be registered in two states, or, what is worse, in neither. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that the certificate issued to a doctor by the Directorate of Professions of the Secretariat of Public Education (Direccion de Profesiones de la Secretaria de Educacion Publica) gives license to practice in any state in Mexico.

The preceding information was corroborated by the Director of Authorization and Professional Registry (Director de Autorizacion y Registro Profesional) of the Directorate of Professions of the SEP. The Director stated in 14 October 2002 correspondence that all doctors who wish to practice in Mexico must obtain an authorization from the Directorate of Professions. These doctors are then entered into a National Registry of Professionals. Consequently, this registry uses information that was provided at the time of registration, making it difficult to locate a doctor if he has changed residence.

In 11 October 2002 correspondence, the General Coordinator for the Mexican Health Foundation (Fundacion Mexicana para la Salud, FUNSALUD) expressed a similar view; however, he added that doctors who wish to specialize must obtain a certification from an Academic Council associated with the National Academy of Medicine. The registry created by this Academic Council is periodically updated, about every five years. Accordingly, doctors registered as specialists could be located if they moved to another state, provided that they apply for a renewal of their certification. As the Coordinator pointed out, people in Mexico have a constitutional right to move and freely practice their profession.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Fundacion Mexicana Para la Salud (FUNSALUD), Mexico City. 11 October 2002.

Correspondence with the General Coordinator.

Mexico, Direccion General de Profesiones de la Secretaria de Educacion Publica (SEP), Mexico City. 14 October 2002. Correspondence with the Director of Authorization and Professional Registry.

Mexico, Secretaria de Salud Jalisco. 8 October 2002. Correspondence with the Secretary of Health.

____. 11 October 2002. Correspondence with the Secretary of Health.

IRB databases

Internet sites

Fundacion Mexicana Para la Salud (FUNSALUD)

Secretaria de Educacion Publica de Mexico

Secretaria de Salud Jalisco

Secretaria de Salud de Mexico

Search engines

Extractando

Google