Among the benefits to be achieved by MeTA, it is stressed that the government’s health policies be debated and agreed upon by the other two sectors, and the population at large have greater access to essential medicines of quality by improving its marketing through the formal pharmaceutical companies represented in MeTA-Perú.
As a result of this multisectorial work, and in response to the problem of lack of user information on prices of medicines, one of the major achievements in Peru has been the creation of the Observatory of Prices of Pharmaceutical Products, which is an online tool that shows the list of medicines marketed in the nation, its forms of presentation, and prices from the public and private sector (these are local prices not international ones). Thus, the user benefits because there is a greater chance to know what is in the market, compare prices and products, and perform an informed purchase of medicines based on price availability. The general public can access this observatory through this link: http://observatorio.digemid.mins.gob.pe
The next step is to inform about the availability of these medicines, and to update the prices of the medicines from the private sector. This update is performed by the Dirección General de Medicamentos e Insumos (DIGEMID).
The pilot phase finished on September of 2010, and the seven nations included in this phase have applied to continue. It is known that Perú, particularly has been chosen for a second phase.
At this moment, MeTA-Peru is in a transition period, but expects to become legally registered very soon. Also, due to the high demand the observatory has had, this experience may be replicated in other nations of the region.
