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 Panama, pharmaceutical companies claim that the demand for a new requirement to participate in the tender could be used to exclude certain suppliers from the process.
In thetenderfor the purchase of various drugs for $241 million, the National Department of Pharmacy and Drugs (DNFD) at the Ministry of Health (Minsa) included a new requirement to participate in the process. Suppliers must submit a certificate of interchangeability for each product they wish to offer.
The private sector has objected to the requirements set by the Insurance Department for the purchase of medicines for $148 million, stating that it will limit the participation of companies and may violate free trade agreements which have been signed.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama:
In Panama the temporary suspension has been ordered of two resolutions which prevented the implementation of the public procurement of medicines and medical and surgical equipment.
Prensa.com reports that "... The action came after the submission of a lawsuit filed by the CSS against the two resolutions issued by the General Directorate of Public Procurement, in which this entity received complaints in two tenders for the purchase of drugs. "
Between 2009 and 2013 generic drugs lost ground to original brands, reversing a trend seen in the last five years.
The generics market in the country has a value of $159 million and represents 36% of the drug market.
Although their prices are lower than original brand name drugs, in recent years purchases by the public sector have been declining, while in the private sector they are growing but timidly.
Some forty companies submitted bids in the tender, worth $25 million, convened by the Panamanian Ministry of Public Health to provide drugs on the basic list for 2013.
The ministry has 30 days to review the proposals, so it is estimated that in about 60 days the drugs will be supplied to all health facilities.
"The order is intended to benefit the 14 health regions, Nicolás Solano Hospital in La Chorrera, the Tejeira Aquilino Hospital in Cocle, the Cecilio Castillero Hospital in Herrera, the Regional Hospital Luis "Chicho" Fabrega, in Veraguas, the Hospital Anita Moreno in Los Santos, the Joaquin Pablo Franco Sayas Hospital, in Las Tablas, the Hospital Jose Domingo de Obaldía, in Chiriqui, and in the capital city of the Children's Hospitals, Santo Tomás and San Miguel Arcángel, as well as the Cancer and Mental Health Institutes , among others", reported Laestrella.com.pa.
A new tender will be launched in three weeks, with corrections to the administrative errors that caused this cancellation.
The bidding process was declared void because there was no publication in the official newspaper La Gaceta as required by law.
"It has been explained that because of a point of law there was no advance publication in La Gaceta and this formality, which is fundamental, makes it necessary to restart the process at the earliest opportunity," said German Enamorado, a Human rights public prosecutor.
Pharmaceutical unions in El Salvador have denounced the regulations determining maximum pricing as being contradictory to the Medicines Act
Elsalvador.com reports that the legal counsel for Fedefarma y Diprofa, Luis Chávez, explained that the pricing for drugs is based on the active ingredient and not on each product: "This is the same as me asking for a point of law establishing a price ceiling on mobile phones.
The debts owed to suppliers amount to $33 million for medicines and a further $40 million for medical equipment.
Laprensa.hn reports that "the debt to medical providers has reached $73 million, of which 23 drugstores are claiming $33 million as a result of tenders and direct sales of medicines since 2010, while another $40 million corresponds to pending payments to 12 companies who distribute medical and surgical equipment. "
Registering a generic medicine takes 180 days, and the registration process for a new drug can take up to nine months.
And because of errors in the software planned to be implemented, the operation of a digital platform to perform sanitary registrations will be set back until 2014.
Panamaamerica.com reports that "The project to digitize the processes for issuing health records aims to reduce by 50% the time it takes to perform registries for the eight thousand users a year who seek medical approval for items such as cosmetics and medicines. "
Two bills before the Guatemalan Congress are seeking free competition in medicines, including foreign manufacturers.
A bill submitted by the Lider party, also plans to exclude open contracts. "The goal of the new law would be free competition in medicines including non-national producers, facilitating imports in order to lower prices," said Edgar Ajcip from the Lider party.
National pharmaceutical companies will not be able to provide medicines to the government, which owes them more than $30 million for previous purchases.
Laprensa.hn reports that "The authorities of the Ministry of Health announced yesterday that the upcoming auction of medication may be awarded to international companies."
"The government owes about 600 million lempiras to national pharmacists, who have repeatedly said they will not participate in the tender for 2013, as they have no production capacity. The problem is that medicine businesses have undercapitalized their industries by granting multi million dollar loans to the State due to the lack of financial liquidity that for years has characterized government administrations. "
Guatemala's government is still extending contracts for the provision of medical supplies signed in the years 2005 to 2009, without calling for new tenders.
While the Ministry of Finance justifies the system of maintenaning open contracts, highlighting its use in different countries, opposition politicians argue that extensions of such contracts violate the principle of equality, the right to free competition, and that these extensions should be reserved only for exceptional cases.
The Government of Guatemala has extended for another year three out of the four packages of drug purchases worth approximately $38 million.
The head of the Ministry of Health stated that formulating the tender documents will take approximately six months. "First we had to supply the system with drugs, and thank God that has been done. But we have started working on the basis of the new contract.
The Social Security Department in Panama is putting out to tender the supply, storage, transportation and on-demand delivery of medicines for hospitals and polyclinics for a term of one year.
Public tender No. 01-2013 is for unit pricing for the supply, storage, transportation and delivery, as required, of drugs, special medicines: narcotics and controlled substances, biological and biotechnological and other materials that are set in the SO, its addendums and attachments for hospitals, clinics and other places established by the social security department at national level during a term of twelve (12) months minimum that covers the fiscal year and any extensions to the term of this public event which may be necessary in order to fulfill the obligations of the tender conditions and the best interests of the social security department, according to the provisions of the tender conditions, its addendums and attachments.