Improve the access to medicines in developing nations by strengthening transparency and accountability in the management and marketing of medicines, as well as to promote alliances between government, private sector and civil society organizations to develop synergies aimed at sustainable and consensual solutions.
One benefit of MeTA is that the population at large will have greater access to quality essential 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 form of presentation, and prices from the public and private sector (these are local prices not international ones). The user benefits by knowing what is on the market, comparing prices and products, and performing an informed purchase of medicines based on price availability. The general public can access this observatory through this link.
The next step is to inform the availability of these medicines, and update 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.
