Chilean pharmaceutical policy

The Chilean Pharmaceutical Policy was an attempt in the 1960s and 70s to introduce a rational National pharmaceuticals policy. Chilewas perhaps the first country in the world to introduce the concept of a limited number of essential drugs.

In 1965the government of President Eduardo Freitook measures to rationalise drug supply and use and in 1967, a national formularywith a limited list of drugs came into being. In 1970, Dr Salvador Allendewas elected to power and rationalisation of the pharmaceutical supply system continued.

The next step was to organise centralised bulk procurement. The first international tenderfor raw materials was called in 1971. However, the pharmaceutical industrystruck back: in the three months following the call for tender, widely used drugs, including analgesicsand antibiotics, disappeared from the market. The manufacturers had cut their production. They agreed to replenish the market within one week only if the international tenders were called off.

In 1972, the government was forced to succumb and called off the tenders. By 1973, the government of Allende was toppled and the first essential drug programme hitherto known was dead.

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean+pharmaceutical+policy Wikipedia article Chilean pharmaceutical policy.