The Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social – IGSS) agreed to modify some of the 730 codes corresponding to drugs purchased by the institution. This decision was made based on a report prepared by the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and an analysis of the basic list of Social Security drugs.

The change of the codes of the products acquired by the IGSS implies that they will no longer be bought from the same supplier. In addition, more suppliers will participate in purchasing processes such as open contract, bidding or direct purchase. Therefore, the price of the products will go down.

The first modification will be to code 340, which corresponds to a vial of five milliliters of injectable insulin.

The IGSS president, Carlos Contreras, explained that the modification of the basic list is ready, except for the opinions that the Board of Directors must issue. Furthermore, he added that the complete list of modified codes will be announced in the coming weeks.