The state leadership of the National Action Party will request the appearance of Alma Rosa Marroquín, head of the Ministry of Health, to respond to the increase in cases of respiratory illnesses caused by pollution. Policarpo Flores, president of the party in Nuevo León, stated that the impacts of air pollution on the population are not being made transparent by the department.
Amid fears that the numbers of those affected by air pollution in the state may be hidden by the state authority, the leadership will request the Congress for the appearance of its head. Flores pointed out that given the constant environmental contingency faced in the metropolitan area, it is necessary to know the real extent of the damage that air pollution is causing.
"Today, all inhabitants of the metropolitan area suffer from alarming air pollution, and it is a fact that we do not have a real and reliable diagnosis from the Ministry of Health on how this problem is affecting the health of those who are suffering from it," he expressed.
What they are asking for, Flores pointed out, is for the authority to be transparent about everything related to the health impacts that the dirty air we breathe daily is causing the population. "It would be very unfortunate that in the face of a problem that is visible to everyone, the Ministry of Health is hiding data and figures and that we do not have a real dimension of the problem," emphasized the party leader.
Flores also criticized the head of Health in Nuevo León, stating that, like the Secretary of the Environment, Alfonso Martínez, she has done nothing to try to reverse the severe effects of air pollution affecting the metropolitan area of Monterrey.
"The problem of air pollution is already with us and unfortunately, it has come to stay," Flores indicated. "And I have not seen the Secretary of Health come forward to declare what strategies they are developing in their department to mitigate its effects, or what campaigns they will implement to warn citizens about the damages caused by this type of pollution. I believe that in this matter, both the Secretary of the Environment and the Secretary of Health are being overwhelmed," he expressed.
