A National Council for the Supervision of Drugs and Medical Supplies (Conafime) would be responsible for negotiating, reviewing, agreeing, adjusting and establishing the sale price to consumers, this after the Health Commission of the National Assembly endorsed the preliminary draft of Law 224, which seeks to create this Council.
Deputy Pedro Torres, proponent of this initiative, argued that the bill will not generate any expense for the State, since the Council would be made up of members from different institutions such as the Ministry of Health, the Social Security Fund, the Ministry of the Presidency, among others.
Torres stressed that Conafime will work together with the National Commission for Medicines, the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acodeco) and the General Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs.
This initiative seeks that each year the Council meets to evaluate and determine fair prices of medicines at the national level.
“The Panamanian pocket cannot withstand one more economic blow,” he said, assuring that Conafime will not only monitor drug prices in Panama but also internationally, in order to provide advice to the President of the Republic that is consistent with the information collected.
