Mexican President Felipe Calderon said that the country has improved its government-funded health insurance to cover 10.3 million people, or almost one in every 10, by the end of last year.

The Health Insurance scheme, founded in 2003 with an aim of universal coverage by 2012, covers treatment of 80% of the diseases that are most common in the country.

Moreover, talking to reporters, the president said that every child born after his inauguration in 2006 now has health insurance.

The president was talking to reporters at the opening ceremony of a new hospital in southern Mexico.

Further, the president told media that the budget spending on public health has increased to 52 billion pesos in last year, up from 18 billion pesos in 2006.

At present, the country has two major public health insurance schemes- the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the Institute of Social Services and Security for Civil Servants (ISSSTE).

The IMSS was created in 1943 for the private-sector, formal, salaried employees and their families: the ISSTE covers government workers and their families.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in 2004 that the IMSS covers nearly 40% of the national population and the ISSSTE covers 7% of the national population.