The differences in the total contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to GDP between one country and another is due to imports and the distribution of production between

The plan for self-sufficiency in health matters and the initiatives it contains are regional in spirit, with proposed lines of action that can be implemented at regional or subregional level. While a plan of this nature requires capacity-building in each country —and recognizes the importance of national policies— its focus is not on domestic proposals but on regional cooperation and integration.

Pursuant to the mandate given by CELAC and based on the work of the group of experts established for this purpose, ECLAC has defined and prioritized seven lines of action: (i) Strengthen mechanisms for pooled international procurement of vaccines and essential medicines (ii) Use public procurement mechanisms for medicines to develop regional markets (iii) Create consortiums for the development and production of vaccines (iv) Implement a regional clinical trials platform (v) Take advantage of regulatory flexibilities to gain access to intellectual property (vi) Strengthen regulatory convergence and recognition mechanisms (vii) Strengthen primary health systems for equitable distribution of vaccines and universal access to them

These lines of action are supported by an exercise to identify key stakeholders and assess regional capacities in research, development and production in the pharmaceutical industry. The progress associated with this supporting exercise is presented under the heading “Inventory of capabilities”.

ECLAC wishes to thank the countries of CELAC for the opportunity to propose a plan that is a call to action and sets a clear regional agenda. We firmly believe that to fully benefit from the hard lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, greater regional integration, cooperation and solidarity are of the essence.

Alicia Bárcena

Executive Secretary Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)