PAHO, ECLAC start talks on improving medical supplies to region

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have brought together the health, industry, and science and technology sectors in the region with the aim of preventing interruptions in medical supplies during future health emergencies.

During the meeting, participants from ministries of health and science and technology, as well as representatives of associations of the medicines industry and other technologies in developing countries, discussed the regional situation and prospects for implementing comprehensive policies, as well as conditions for improving productive capacity.

In addition, they exchanged information on national initiatives for equitable access to medicines and other health technologies.

In a release, PAHO said the covid19 pandemic has demonstrated structural weaknesses in health systems in the region and given a basis for rethinking development.

It has also shown the vulnerability of global supply chains, with import restrictions and insufficient availability of medical products and health technologies to meet large increases in demand.

The region has a health manufacturing industry which, with some exceptions, is not well developed and has low levels of technological sophistication, leading to high dependence on external products. ECLAC estimates only four per cent of imports of medical products related to the response to covid19 in Latin America and the Caribbean originated in the region itself.

PAHO director Dr Carissa F Etienne said the scarcity of medical products could cause disruptions in health care and put health and life at risk.

“That's why it's a priority for health, science and technology, and industry to work together to ensure equitable access to medicines and other essential technologies not only in peacetime, but also during future emergencies."

ECLAC executive secretary Alicia Barcena said the health industry "is a strategic sector and we are challenged to combine its social objectives of meeting the health needs of the population with its regional economic development possibilities. Integrated health, science and technology, and industrial policies guided by this challenge and mission, and under a public-private partnership, are essential to this.”

The organisations agreed on the need for a renewed vision of comprehensive policies, which considers the objectives and needs of the health sector and encourages industrial development in the sector.

They said the challenge is to move towards an integrated regional market for medicines and other health technologies, based on country-shared research and production networks. If the necessary scale is reached, this market could reduce external dependence and ensure access to the medical products needed to meet regional demand.