The Minister of Health, Julio Borba, confirmed that Pfizer’s requirement for signing contracts is the same in all countries. Within the framework of the confidentiality agreement, there is talk of an alleged delivery of international reserves and assets of the Paraguayan State during the negotiations.
During an interview with the channel GEN – Nación Media, the Minister of Health, Julio Borba, said that he cannot give more details about the terms of the confirmed contract with the pharmacist, since the confidentiality agreement is in force.
When asked if there was some kind of pressure from Pfizer, which includes an alleged delivery of international reserves and state assets, Borba mentioned that “we fulfilled what the contracts requested, in absolutely all countries. It was the same contract. But, to sign, the first thing we saw is the availability of money. Today we owe nothing to Pfizer.”
The possibility of proposing the repeal of a law approved last year that allowed the purchase of COVID vaccines from international pharmaceutical companies and that establishes confidential agreements is currently under study.
Borba indicated that he has no objections to an audit being carried out by the Ministry of Health regarding the contracts that were signed, in the event that the Confidentiality Law is repealed.
“No inconvenience. Within the crisis there are opportunities. We grew a lot in the health system. Everything is reflected in documents”, stressed the Minister of Health.
For his part, Dr. Gustavo Irala, legal advisor to the Ministry of Health, clarified that if the Law is repealed, this could affect future contracts in which there is a requirement of confidentiality. However, he said there is hope that “the rules will change” on the provision of vaccines, since the COVID-19 situation is currently very different from previous months.
