Collaboration is key to solving health barriers in Latin America, say experts

Mexico City, Sep 10 (EFE).- Collaboration between countries and healthcare systems is essential to resolve barriers to access to innovation in treatments and timely diagnoses for patients in Latin America, according to experts at the Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism held in Mexico City.

“I think that more and more I find that all or many of us are convinced that there is no problem in Latin America in the health sector that can be solved by a single actor,” said Yaneth Giha, executive director of the Latin American Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (FIFARMA, its acronym in Spanish).

Giha said that the different challenges faced by the region can only be met if the public and private sectors, civil society, patients' associations, governments and all the stakeholders involved work together.

In this regard, Leonardo Semprun, MSD's Senior Director of Global Regulatory Policy for Latin America, highlighted that one of the lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic is the importance of collaboration in the region.

“The pandemic showed us that we are connected and we are a unit,” he said.

In addition, Laura Dachner, director of Public Policy at MSD Latam and panel moderator, stressed that “collaboration between different sectors is fundamental to overcome barriers to innovation in health and to achieve a more efficient and equitable system, where journalists also play a crucial role in reporting accurately and responsibly.”

Regulatory systems are key

Semprun said that regulatory systems are an essential part of all healthcare systems, as they perform oversight functions to ensure the quality, efficacy, and safety of healthcare technologies, drugs, vaccines, blood products, and medical devices.

This importance was evident during the covid-19 health emergency, where, for example, approval of vaccines was urgently required.

In response, reliance, a concept promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), was promoted as a mechanism for national regulatory authorities (NRAs) to better manage resource capacity problems and, at the same time, strengthen regulatory systems.

According to FIFARMA, reliance is the act by which NRAs in a jurisdiction can consider and give significant weight to assessments made by another NRA or trusted institution, or any other authoritative source of information, in making their own decisions.

These principles seek not only to optimize NRA resources and capabilities, but also to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of medical products.

“Today (reliance) represents a reality in the region,” said Semprun.

This practice, he added, helps, among other things, for regulatory agencies to work together, for processes to be simpler, in the evolution of trust and in access times to innovative drugs.

“This has a positive impact on the entire regulatory system,” he said.

In this respect, Giha presented the results of the 2023 W.A.I.T. (Waiting to Access Innovative Therapies) Indicator study for Latin America, which analyzes the availability and approval times of 228 innovative treatments from the time they are approved by the regulatory agencies in the United States (FDA) and the European Union (EMA) until they are available to patients in eight Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

The analysis highlights the disparities in Latin American patients' access to drugs, showing that the average waiting time from FDA approval to effective availability for patients in the region ranges from 1.9 to more than 4.5 years.

Currently, it is estimated that an innovative cancer treatment that receives regulatory approval in the United States in February 2024, for example, could be available to Latin American patients in the second half of 2028. EFE

PBD-csr/abz/afs/lap

MSD supported EFE in the preparation of this article.

MEX8318. MEXICO CITY (MEXICO), 10/09/2024.- MSD Executive Director of Global Regulatory Policy Latin America, Laura Dachner (l), MSD Senior Director of Global Regulatory Policy for Latin America, Leonardo Semprún (c) and the Executive Director of the Latin American Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Fifarma), Yaneth Giha (r), participating in the 21st Latin American Seminar on Journalism in Science and Health, on August 21, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. Collaboration between countries and healthcare systems is essential to resolve barriers to access to innovation in treatments and timely diagnoses for patients in Latin America, according to experts at the Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism held in Mexico City. EFE/José Méndez

MEX8318. MEXICO CITY (MEXICO), 10/09/2024.- MSD Senior Director of Global Regulatory Policy for Latin America, Leonardo Semprún (l) and the Executive Director of the Latin American Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Fifarma), Yaneth Giha, participating in the 21st Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism, August 21, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. Collaboration between countries and healthcare systems is essential to resolve barriers to access to innovation in treatments and timely diagnoses for patients in Latin America, according to experts at the Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism held in Mexico City. EFE/José Méndez

MEX8318. MEXICO CITY (MEXICO), 10/09/2024.- MSD Executive Director of Global Regulatory Policy Latin America, Laura Dachner participating in the 21st Latin American Seminar on Journalism in Science and Health, on August 21, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. Collaboration between countries and healthcare systems is essential to resolve barriers to access to innovation in treatments and timely diagnoses for patients in Latin America, according to experts at the Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism held in Mexico City. EFE/José Méndez

MEX8318. MEXICO CITY (MEXICO), 10/09/2024.- MSD Senior Director of Global Regulatory Policy for Latin America, Leonardo Semprún participating in the 21st Latin American Seminar on Journalism in Science and Health, on August 21, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. Collaboration between countries and healthcare systems is essential to resolve barriers to access to innovation in treatments and timely diagnoses for patients in Latin America, according to experts at the Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism held in Mexico City. EFE/José Méndez

MEX8318. MEXICO CITY (MEXICO), 10/09/2024.- MSD Senior Director of Global Regulatory Policy for Latin America, Leonardo Semprún participating in the 21st Latin American Seminar on Journalism in Science and Health, on August 21, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. Collaboration between countries and healthcare systems is essential to resolve barriers to access to innovation in treatments and timely diagnoses for patients in Latin America, according to experts at the Latin American Seminar on Science and Health Journalism held in Mexico City. EFE/José Méndez