Brazil and Paraguay sign agreement to improve health surveillance standards in Latin America

Anvisa and Dinavisa sign agreement to strenghen health standards in Latin America

To provide a faster and coordinated response to modern regulatory challenges, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) and the Health Surveillance Directorate of Paraguay (Dinavisa) signed a new Declaration of Intent to improve health surveillance standards in Latin America. The agreement was signed on Wednesday (March 25) during the International Health Dialogue event in Rio de Janeiro. The focus is to intensify the surveillance of medicines and health products, in order to combat a problem that threatens public health and safety in the region: the circulation of irregular and counterfeit products.

According to Anvisa's chairman, Leandro Safatle, the move has a great importance to implement "stronger regulations" and protect the populations of both countries. To Safatle, the goal is to strengthen relations so that both regulatory agencies can act in a more integrated way, by sharing intelligence and methodologies that can assure the effectiveness of current health rules and regulations.

In practical terms, the agreement will prioritize combating threats to patient safety and market integrity. Therefore, the initiative seeks to harmonize best practices and to strengthen health technology market control. The joint efforts between Brazil and Paraguay build a more robust technical barrier against illegal trade in Latin America.

The document can be used as a basis for future technical negotiations. To enforce the agreement, the institutions will need a constant exchange of information and to take joint actions to foster regional development. In essence, the partnership reaffirms a high-level political and institutional commitment and conveys a common vision: protecting public health has no borders.

Check some more photos of the "International Health Dialogue" on Anvisa's Flickr page.

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