Bogota, June 17, 2023. With the participation of the health authorities of Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Mexico, the Bogotá meeting was held on June 15th and 16th, where the representatives of these entities discussed the challenges to achieve regulatory convergence in the region and the need to promote policies that ensure access to medicines and medical equipment encourage the creation of spaces for integration and international cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“This meeting reaffirms the commitments of health authorities and demonstrates the will to promote strategies to protect public health and life. “Advances in regulatory convergence will also allow us to provide access to medicines and medical devices, i. the body that coordinated the meeting.
For his part, Leonardo Dutra, representative of Anvisa from Brazil, pointed out that “regional integration is a priority for us”. We are committed to convergence and regulatory cooperation and we are convinced that protecting the health of our citizens is a task that must be done together. Disease knows no borders and therefore health authorities must work together and work for the benefit of our citizens.”
“Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba and Mexico decide to promote a convergence of regulations and invite all the countries of the region to join this initiative, believing in the protection of all our peoples from health risks by strengthening technical and scientific measures health regulation. “We welcome regulatory convergence with the conviction to fight against indifference and inequality that have been dimming the light of our regional solidarity for many years,” Alejandro Svarch, Commissioner of Cofepris from Mexico, said before the meeting.
With regard to the conclusions of this joint work, it is important to highlight that this dialogue led to the document of the Bogotá meeting, signed by the representatives of the above countries, in which they made the following proposals:
• Work together on the creation of the Regional School of Sanitation Regulation, which will make it possible to support the scientific and technical strengthening of the capacities of regulators in the field of sanitation.
• Establish working groups to enable prioritization for building regulatory confidence in the region.
• Share the thoughts of the Bogotá meeting at the meeting of national regulators with a regional focus that will take place on July 11-12, 2023 in Washington DC.
Jaime Hernán Urrego, Deputy Minister of Public Health and Service Delivery, reiterated the issues discussed at the Bogotá meeting and stressed that he was very enthusiastic about the results of the meeting that Invima in this integration initiative. It should also be noted that in this process there has been the support and accompaniment of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which is committed to building an overall will and purpose architecture that will allow the right to health to be exercised within the framework of health sovereignty guarantee . ”.
Diplomatic representatives of the countries participating in the dialogue also attended the conclusion of the Bogotá meeting. El Salvador and Ecuador were special guests at the meeting.