PANAMA

On October 27, the Ministry of Health, through the Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs, held a discussion on the Central American Technical Regulation (RTCA in Spanish) that establishes conditions and requirements under which the sanitary registration for pharmaceutical products and medicines for human use is granted. The adoption of this regulation will allow the adoption of international requirements that will make the entry and export of medicines more feasible. The RCTA will enter into force on January 3, 2022.

Luis Francisco Sucre, head of the Ministry, said that the aim is not only to obtain quality medicines, but also “to reduce prices and make them accessible to the population”. He also stated that another of the objectives that the adoption of this regulation will allow is for Panama to become a hub for manufacturing and exporting medicines to the region.

The General Director of the Social Security Fund, Enrique Lau Cortes, emphasized that the incorporation of the homologation process will expand the supply of pharmaceutical products, which as a consequence of increased competition will lower prices. It should be recalled that the RTCA was adopted in July of this year, and its objective is to achieve the homologation of all the criteria of the member countries of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America (COMISCA in Spanish).