During 2021, a moderate growth of 14% was observed, reaching $339 million of purchases in Central America from Mexico, where the main importer in the region was Guatemala with $83 million.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
More than 10 thousand results were observed during May 2022 in tenders under the heading "health and medicines", ranging from medical treatments to equipment and machinery used in the health sector.
An analysis by CentralAmericaData's Business Intelligence department shows interesting data on the processes that during May 2022 were published with contracts to provide pharmaceuticals, equipment and medical supplies to the several Ministries of Health and Social Security entities in Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.
A cut-off for the first quarter of the year shows a relevant figure in the health and medicine sector for the Central American region and the Dominican Republic.
An analysis of CentralAmericaData's Business Intelligence department shows interesting data on the processes that in the first quarter of 2022 were published with contracts to supply pharmaceuticals, equipment and medical supplies to the various Ministries of Health and Social Security entities in Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.
From January to March 2020, purchases of pharmaceutical products made by Central American countries from companies in Mexico totaled $73 million, 2% more than reported in the same period in 2019.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
Agefinsa, Servicios Tecnicos Medicos, Macrotech Farmaceutica and J.I. Cohen are some of the companies that during the first quarter of the year won contracts to provide medicines and pharmaceutical products to public health institutions in the region.
The "Interactive Public Procurement Information System" of the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData provides interesting data on the companies that in the first quarter of 2020 were favored with contracts to provide pharmaceutical products and medical supplies to the various Ministries of Health and Social Security entities in the Central American countries.
As a result of the Coronavirus emergency, the CABEI granted each of the Central American countries financial resources for the purchase of medicines and medical supplies.
The international organization reported that it granted non-reimbursable financial cooperation in the amount of up to $8,000,000 distributed in $1,000,000 to each Central American country, including Belize, to attend to the health emergency.
From January to September 2019, pharmaceutical product imports in Central America totaled $2.614 million, 8% more than in the same period in 2018, with El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica being the markets where purchases increased the most.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption "Click to interact with graphics"]
Guatemala's pharmaceutical sector is demanding delays in the authorization of medicines, since it is estimated that more than a thousand dossiers are waiting for the endorsement to be legally commercialized in the country.
According to authorities of the College of Pharmacists and Chemists of Guatemala, the Department of Regulation and Control of Pharmaceuticals and Related Products of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) has been operating irregularly since January 2017, when its former headquarters located in zone 15 of Guatemala City caught fire.
During the first half of the year, purchases of vaccines for human use in Central America totaled $57 million, and imports from France increased 83% over the same period in 2017.
Figures from the information system Vaccine Market for Human Use in Central America, from the Trade Intelligence Area of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
Arguing that the expected therapeutic effects were not proven, the Social Security of Guatemala decided to remove 107 medicines from the Basic List of Medicines.
On October 10th the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Institute of Social Security (IGSS) announced the approval of the new Basic List of Medicines, which excludes some vitamins, antidepressants and painkillers.
Between January and March of this year, companies in Guatemala imported $146 million worth of pharmaceutical products, and 62% came from Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica.
Figures from the information systemon the Pharmaceutical Products Market in Guatemala, compiled by theBusiness Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]
The market for medicines in Colombia up to 2017 totalled $3.419 billion, of which 83% corresponded to sales of prescribed medicines, and the remaining 17% to OTC medicines.
A report by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica details the characteristics of the pharmaceutical products market in Colombia, and highlights the opportunities available for companies in Central America that sell raw materials and supplies for manufacturing medicines.
From April 23 to 26, entrepreneurs from the pharmaceutical sector will be visiting Guatemala and El Salvador to meet with companies interested in distributing their products.
This event is being organized by the Trade Office of the Embassy of Ecuador in Guatemala and will be held at the Barceló Hotel in Guatemala and El Salvador.
In 2017, countries in Central America bought $284 million worth of pharmaceutical products from companies in Mexico, and 49% were purchased from Panama.
Figures from the information system "Trade between Central America and Mexico", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]