The Fundación Teletón is a Mexican annual 24-plus-hour TV and radio broadcast in Mexico, started in 1996, based on the Chilean event of the same name, to raise money for children's rehabilitation centers (known as Centro de Rehabilitación Infantil Teletón or CRIT – "Teletón Children's Rehabilitation Center" in English). The Mexican Teletón is produced by Televisa and more than 500 Mexican and foreign media; more than 100 commercial firms sponsor the event. Teleton's mission is "to provide knowledge about physical disabilities, giving a strong message about respect, equality and support to people in these conditions". Teletón is the world's largest private medical unit and rehabilitation center for children. Since 1997, Teletón has begun on the first Friday in December. The 2010 Teletón was held on December 3–4; as always, it was seen as "a project of national unity where Mexicans have the chance to gather and work for the same cause". From 1996 to 2003, the end of the event was marked by a concert in Azteca Stadium. Since 2004, the venue has varied: in 2004 and 2005, it was held at Mexico City's Zócalo, in 2006, at the Foro Sol and in 2007 and 2008, it was moved to the National Auditorium. Besides creating CRITs all around the country, the CRIT system and the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM) signed an agreement in 2000 creating two bachelors-degree programs training professionals to work with children at the CRITs, and created the Instituto Teletón de Estudios Superiores (ITESUR) (located next to the first CRIT constructed). ITESUR is the only university in Mexico that grants degrees in occupational and physical therapy. In 2012, it was inaugurated in State of Mexico the Centro Autismo Teletón (CAT) which will help children with autism. From 1997 to 2004, Mexican actress and pop star Lucero was involved in every Teleton as the main spokesperson for most of the broadcast, alongside different news anchor and host of other Televisa programs. In 2003, a scandal involving security guards and the press made her to have her role been downplayed, and other Televisa personalities have been included in the broadcast. While the main reason of the Teleton is to provide help with the rehabilitation of children that suffer of different brain and mobility discapacities, in 2009 Teletón expanded the objectives to provide help in the treatment of children diagnosed with cancer, hence another event was conceived, Pelonton, consisting of the people donating locks of hair in order to create wigs for those children that suffered loss hair due to cancer treatment. In 2013, it was inaugurated the first oncology children's hospital in Latin America, named Hospital Infantil Teletón de Oncología or HITO in the city of Querétaro.

CRIT locations

The first Teletón was broadcast on December 12, 1997, produced by Televisa and 70 other communications media. By the end of the broadcast, its goal was surpassed. Since then, the goal has been the same amount raised the previous year, plus one Mexican peso. From 1997 to 2014, Teletón had met its goal every year, producing surpluses which allowed the construction of twenty-one CRITs, one CAT and one HITO. The location of some CRITs is chosen on a geographical basis, so that every region has at least one; the goal is to build one in every state. Others are built in areas which have "earned" them with funds raised:

Controversies

Tax deductions

Since its inception, the Telethon has been accused of allowing the companies that sponsor it to deduct taxes and be free of payments through their donations and not be transparent with the money obtained by the contributions of citizens, because these are made in an anonymous and without granting a tax receipt to support the transaction. Faced with these accusations, the Fundación Teletón has responded declaring that the tax deduction is a legal figure permitted by the government and that the system used prevents donations from being used for tax evasion. On the other hand, the Servicio de Administración Tributaria stipulates that the maximum amount that a moral person can deduct from taxes through donations is 10% of net profit. Researcher Sara Murúa considered that this tax method is based on a legal loophole and declared that "the fundamental problem with this type of foundation is the triangulation of its funds, which allows large donors to have privileged tax mechanisms to exempt taxes and, even, for them to declare as their own the donations of third parties, especially individuals." The latter was criticized in reference to donations made anonymously by people, thus benefiting the image of companies.

United Nations reactions

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations (UN) stated in a communication, dated October 3, 2014, its concern about the way in which government resources are administered in the area of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities due to the fact that Mexico grants funds so that the Fundación Teletón - a private organization - is in charge of public health tasks that are the responsibility of the government. At the same time, this international body criticized the way in which the Fundación Teletón makes people with disabilities look, adding that it "observes that this campaign promotes stereotypes of people with disabilities as subjects of charity [...] Also, it recommends [the committee to the Mexican government] develop programs to raise awareness about people with disabilities as rights holders". Likewise, it asks the Mexican government to investigate and prosecute institutions that apply forced sterilizations to people with disabilities, and guarantee reparations to the victims of this practice. Finally, the international organization delivered a document with 67 recommendations to the federal government of Mexico and Telethon, which to date has not been addressed.

2014 anonymous donation incident

During the final moments of Teleton 2014, the total collected was initially announced as 418,009,379 MXN, falling short of the 473,794,379 MXN goal. Televisa then announced the event would be lengthened by an hour to try to achieve the goal. A mysterious donation of 55,785,000 MXN was then made by an anonymous party, helping surpass the stablished goal. To this day, the source of the donation remains unknown, with the public speculating that it was just a ploy to end the event in a high note.

Media participation

During its first broadcast, Teletón (CRIT) counted with the collaboration of 70 different national media companies; with the TV and radio stations affiliated with Televisa making it a nationwide campaign. The 2007 broadcast had the participation of more than 500 national and international media. One notable exception is TV Azteca, another major mexican media conglomerate and competitor to Televisa due to a signal-distribution conflict. 2007 also marked the first time donations from foreign countries were received.

Broadcasts

Sponsors

The Teletón production is supported by enterprises who also finance year-round expenses of the CRITs. There is only one sponsor for each product category. The first broadcast had nine sponsors; by 2008 the number was 26. Some businesses which have participated are:

TeletónUSA

In 2012, Teletón, in cooperation with the Univision television network, created TeletónUSA, an American charity with the same aim to help sick, disabled, and mentally-challenged children in America's Hispanic communities. Its first telethon was broadcast December 14 and 15, 2012 on the Univision network, and was hosted by famed Univision personality Don Francisco, who has hosted the telethon in Chile (Which was the inspiration for telethon). The first edition of TeletónUSA took US$8,150,625 in pledges, exceeding its initial goal of US$7 million. In November 2014 The CRIT opened its first location in the United States in San Antonio, Texas.