Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala are making progress in their plans to purchase medicines abroad, and this procedure could shortly be emulated by Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. On July 22, Mexico adopted a bill in committee to facilitate the purchase of medicines abroad, while Costa Rica reported on July 21 that it is working on an agreement to purchase generic medicines from India. For its part, on July 23, Guatemala confirmed its intention to join up with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to acquire over-the-counter drugs. 

In Mexico, the Deputies’ Transparency Committee passed the bill allowing medicines to be procured abroad. On this occasion, a modification was approved that only allows this mechanism to be employed when efforts in the context of calls for tenders at national level have been exhausted. The opposition warned of the risks of corruption and the damaging effects this initiative could have on the national pharmaceutical industry. The Chamber of Deputies must now study it, which could happen in the short term since the ruling party has the political support required to call extraordinary sessions this week.

Costa Rica, for its part, hopes to close an agreement to allow it to buy generic medicines from India without passing through intermediaries, representing cost savings of up to 50%. In particular, the Executive highlighted that treatment for cancer diseases in Latin America costs up to 20 times more than in India. This information was shared during a virtual meeting between representatives from Latin American countries and India. Peru, Ecuador and Brazil announced that they intended to copy this strategy and agreed to improve the process of purchasing medicines from India and diversify supply chains for geopolitical reasons.

In the case of Guatemala, the Executive highlighted that buying medicines through the UNDP guarantees better prices and a speedier process. They also pointed to the global shortage of certain over-the-counter medicines, so the objective in the short term is to be included in major purchasing processes led by international entities to obtain these items.