At a recent symposium in Ixtlahuaca, the importance of individual autonomy in decision-making regarding medical treatments at the end of life was emphasized. The event focused on the significance of allowing each person to freely and properly informed choose the treatments they wish to receive or reject in the final stages of their life.
During the symposium, Santa Maricela Ortiz Zepeda, Coordinator of High Specialty Hospitals of the Ministry of Health, highlighted that under the direction of Governor Delfina Gómez Álvarez, initiatives are being implemented to offer advance directive services and high-quality palliative care. "It is essential that every citizen of Mexico can plan their end-of-life care with freedom and certainty," stated Ortiz Zepeda.
Manuel Hernández Salazar, Coordinator of Advance Directives, emphasized that the symposium aims to raise awareness of respect for the principle of autonomy. "Our goal is to allow each person to live their final days with dignity, attending to their advance directives," Hernández commented, adding that this guarantees a dignified death.
The advance directive is a fundamental pillar of individual autonomy and is closely related to palliative care. This right allows citizens to decide how they wish to face the end of their life, ensuring that they do so with dignity and without unnecessary suffering.
The event also brought together important figures from the health sector, including Laura Raquel Velázquez Barrera, Administrative Coordinator of the Ministry of Health; Luz María Goti Rodríguez, State Coordinator of Breastfeeding and Milk Banks; Salvador Estrada Alcocer, Head of the Internal Control Body; and Margarito Ortega Ballesteros, Rector of the University of Ixtlahuaca CUI.
The initiative seeks for each individual to face their medical decisions autonomously and consciously, allowing them to live their final moments with dignity and respect for their own choices.