Brazil and Mexico celebrate health integration aiming at innovation and regulatory convergence

Visit from the Mexican Ministry of Health to Anvisa

The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) received this Wednesday (April 8) the Mexican government delegation to strengthen integration between the two countries in the health area. The meeting hallmarked the ratification of the Rio de Janeiro Declaration by the Mexican Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS) and promoted the exchange of regulatory experiences, innovation in health and strategies to make product analysis faster.

Anvisa chairman, Leandro Safatle, highlighted the agency's strategic role in Brazil, since it is responsible for regulating sectors accounting for about a quarter of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), including medicines, food, pesticides, tobacco, as well as port and border control.

Safatle emphasized the similarities between Brazilian and Mexican regulatory structures and that the integration of the two largest health agencies in Latin America can strengthen regional action.

"We have improved significantly concerning reducing waiting lists, a global challenge intensified after the pandemic. Integration with Mexico is fundamental for joint solutions and for expanding our response capacity," said the chairman.

Leandro Safatle also pointed up Anvisa's active participation in international forums and Brazil's preparation to host relevant meetings in the regulatory field.

Regulatory convergence

Among the many topics discussed, emphasis was given to the following themes: advances in pharmacovigilance, drug control, food regulation, challenges with waiting lists, reliance mechanisms for ​​medicines, inspection and registration, and innovative therapies, especially for serious diseases such as cancer.

Along with it, both countries established the development of an effective work plan in the next two weeks, materializing the discussions that permeated the meeting. Besides the discussions regarding regulatory actions with Anvisa, the Mexican delegation agenda in Brazil was wide-ranging, having discussions with the Brazilian Minister of Health Alexandre Padilha and the Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin.

The Mexican Minister of Health, David Kershenobich, assessed the cooperation as something strategic and pointed up the convergence of actions between the two countries. According to Kershenobich, both Brazil and Mexico have agencies with a broad scope of action over economy and public health, which facilitates building common agendas.

“We have similar structures, which favors the creation of agreements and strengthens a consistent working relationship between the countries,” the minister highlighted.

The director of COFEPRIS, Víctor Hugo Borja Aburto, drew attention to Latin America's external dependence on medicines production. “About 80% of the medicines consumed in the region come from abroad. Cooperation can help develop local capacities and share good practices,” he stated.

Pharmacovigilance

Anvisa's Director, Thiago Lopes, also highlighted initiatives in pharmacovigilance, such as the sentinel hospital network, responsible for monitoring adverse drug events, and the integration of data with the World Health Organization (WHO), which allows for the issuance of alerts and faster regulatory actions.

According to director Daniela Marreco Anvisa, one of the focus in regulatory analysis, is the work made on new categories of food with functional health properties, indicating progress in areas that still lack consolidated regulations.

The Mexican Ambassador to Brazil, Carlos García de Alba, reinforced the bilateral agenda and confirmed new steps in the cooperation, which include institutional visits planned for the second half of the year and the signing of other agreements.

At the end of the meeting, Víctor Hugo Borja Aburto signed the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which had already been endorsed by him and other regulatory authorities from Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama, and Brazil during the International Health Dialogue event, held in Rio de Janeiro on March 25.

 See some more photos of the meeting on Anvisa's Flickr page
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