Political Tug-of-War Over Medicines (El Salvador)

[Judi Lynn]

Political Tug-of-War Over Medicines
By Edgardo Ayala

SAN SALVADOR, Nov 18, 2010 (IPS) - Two initiatives of the administration of President Mauricio Funes in El Salvador, aimed at increasing competition in the pharmaceutical industry in order to bring down the cost of medicines, are being fought by the opposition in Congress.

Lawmakers from the rightwing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which governed El Salvador from 1989 to 2009, presented a draft resolution to modify article 14 of the Health Code, to make it clear that the Health Ministry and the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security (ISSS) must purchase only medicines that are registered in the country.

In October, the Health Ministry invited tenders from national and international companies for the procurement of 27 million dollars' worth of medicines, with a novel twist: international companies were not required to have registered their products with the Higher Council on Public Health (CSSP).

The CSSP, a state body in which associations of healthcare professionals participate through oversight committees, is in charge of authorising the use and sale of medicines in the country. The left-wing government and activists claim that it has been controlled by the pharmaceutical industry for decades.

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