On 31 October the Executive passed decree 007-2019 approving a number of measures to promote access to medicines, biological products and essential medical devices for the population. According to the regulations, the Ministry of Health must approve, within the next 30 days, the updated version of the National List for Essential Medicines (PNUME, for its acronym in Spanish), which should always be available in public and private pharmacies. The updated list should include Trastuzumab. The regulation entered into force on November 1, so the list is expected to be submitted on December 2. 

The decree covers all aspects of production, import, quality, distribution, prescription, dispensing, product use and information for the population and health professionals. It also seeks to ensure the supply of generic medicines under their international nonproprietary name as well as biosimilar products, “articulating sectoral efforts based on a results-based management model focused on guaranteeing citizens’ access to strategic health resources, allowing greater efficiency in the supply chain of these resources, by applying economies of scale.”

To this end, the text establishes that within 30 days, the Ministry of Health will adopt a list of 40 generic essential medicines under the International Common Denomination contained in the PNUME, which must be kept available or be on sale in pharmacies, drugstores and pharmacy services in the private sector.