Arturo Sanchez Jimenez
The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, August 22, 2024, p. 17
With a call for public health to be conceived as a social good, Mexican and regional authorities yesterday inaugurated the XI Pan-American Conference for the Harmonization of Pharmaceutical Regulations.
At the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela, declared that the commercialization is the greatest infamy
which has affected health systems, as evidenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before ministers and vice ministers of health from all over the continent and representatives of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), he pointed out that during the covid-19 pandemic, the terrible consequences of the commercialization and corruption of public health structures, especially in access to medicines and essential supplies
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He added that the fragmentation of health services and the lack of self-sufficiency in health care are the main challenges that the region must face in the event of new public health crises.
Alejandro Svarch, head of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), stressed that health should be conceived as a social good, and pointed out that the State, industry and the regional economic sector must prioritize addressing the real health needs of the region. Without this foundation, we cannot imagine real universal access to medicines in the region.
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He noted that as a result of the pandemic and its challenges, all countries in the region had to change their regulatory frameworks to deal with the emergency.
He added that regulatory harmonization is needed to help simplify requirements, reduce costs and shorten the time required to supervise and approve the production and use of new drugs and vaccines.
In a video message, Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said that in the next three days strategies will be analyzed to achieve regional regulatory harmonization to allow access to medicines and vaccines.
He added that the pandemic has made it urgent to participate and cooperate in order to respond jointly and satisfactorily to the emergency and stressed that regional collaboration, integration of countries and health self-sufficiency are essential in the face of potential health emergencies.
