Mexico, Cuba and Colombia formalize regional drug agency

Havana, Apr 26 (RHC) - Mexico, Colombia and Cuba today formalized the Latin American and Caribbean Medicines agency (AMLAC) with the signing of the Acapulco Declaration that includes details and commitments of the common initiative.

In a ceremony chaired by Jorge Alcocer, Mexico’s Secretary of Health, and representatives of the regulatory bodies for health control and surveillance of the signatory countries, the official ceremony was held in Acapulco, Guerrero, which launches the new mechanism of regional cooperation to which 10 nations will join almost immediately.

For Mexico, the initiators of the mechanism were represented by Alejandro Svarch, head of the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS); for Cuba, Olga Ruiz, director of the Center for Control of Medicines and Medical Equipment (CECMEC); and Colombia, Mariela Pardo, in charge of the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA).

Dr. Alcocer presented the agency, its purposes and objectives and described it as a milestone because the region it covers has no infrastructure for the production of vaccines and other drugs, or authorization for the emergency use of drugs.

He stressed that the signing of this declaration by Colombia, Cuba and Mexico, which seeks conversations for the creation of the Latin American and Caribbean Medicines Agency, will bring the region closer to health self-sufficiency and access to medical devices. In addition, it will allow the sharing of medical research and the transformation of offices that will contribute to self-sufficiency and pharmacological sovereignty among countries. (Source: Prensa Latina)