PANAMA

On August 21, Health Minister Rosario Turner presented to the National Assembly a bill to improve the supply of medicines in the public system, reforming Law 1 of 2001. The initiative allows medicines to be purchased without having to go through the national health registry in cases of emergency, improving the efficiency of their dispatch to the country. It also creates the National Observatory of Medicines to strengthen the surveillance and traceability of these products, from the moment they leave the manufacturer until they reach the consumer. It is expected that the project will be discussed in the Health Committee in the coming weeks.

The bill will allow the Executive to decree critical shortages at national level. In this way, the medicines that Panama needs can be acquired without having to go through the sanitary registration process. Thus, the purchase will be of medicines with certifications granted by countries with high health standards, registered in the WHO’s databases, or those of other American health agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA, the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), and the Mexican Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), among others.

With regard to the acquisition of products in the event of sho

rtages, it is established that the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Fund may make joint or unilateral purchases at the national level or abroad, through direct mechanisms. It is expected that the bill will be studied and debated by the Health Committee in the coming weeks. The ruling party has the necessary support in the Assembly for the initiative to advance without problems.