Access to innovations in the healthcare system

Health systems Our region faces important challenges related to its sustainability and improving the quality of the services they provide. Given this panorama, there is an urgent need for all actors to work together on comprehensive strategies and solutions that contribute to facing these challenges.

Cooperation is required different voices as the governmenthealth authorities, pharmaceutical industry, academic community, patient organizations and the private sector in general, to work on building the ecosystem robust sanitation and provide adequate conditions for the health care of the population.

In Panama, this multisectoral dialogue it was already given with a purpose establish a harmonized national program for the needs of Panamanians and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is important that we take effective measures to ensure the availability of innovations and the availability of medicines that the population needs.

To speed up this approach innovation, from Fedefarma We proposed three lines of work: first, to amend the regulations that prevent a new treatment from having to wait 5 years to be evaluated for inclusion in National Health System.; Second, enable agreements on the procurement of medicines through Mechanisms of managed entry (MEA), those who help fundamental for the sustainability of the health system; and the third point is the acceleration of the contracting process, which due to bureaucratic aspects creates delays in institutional supply.

Next this time puts Panama faces a historic opportunity, not only to direct part of its development agenda 2030 towards innovation in the sector as an element of its strategy for economic growth and job creation, to reduce the health gap, but rather to become Healthcare innovation cluster, which has as a central point Research and development (R&D).

The country has the conditions and possibilities to innovate in healthcare HoweverIn this process, it is necessary to strengthen the national healthcare system and invest in its digital transformation and modernization of medical technology.

Before the pandemic, Panama invested 4.5% of its gross domestic product in healthcare. Three years later, i.e. in 2022, this investment increased by 7.6%; showing the importance which Government of the sector after the crisis caused by COVID-19.

Global Innovation Index (GII), which makes it possible to determine the capabilities and results of world economies in this area, ranks Panama in 83rd place out of 132 countries. In order to move forward in this order, we repeat what we have already mentioned before: it is essential to create alliances that allow greater access to prevention-oriented innovations, early diagnosis and treatment of diseases; and that the public sector works on speeding up the process of registering new drugs, changing laws and simplifying procedures.

Looking ahead, Panama He faces important challenges to make the entire healthcare system more robust, but this is the path we must take together if we want to strengthen the system and increase the country’s competitiveness and its position in the region.