Latin America's major 2025 challenges for securing population-wide access to innovative medicines

Despite the strategies and programs that have been implemented to bring effective and equitable access to new medicines and technologies that provide equal or similar opportunities for citizens, regardless of their country, the reality is very different in Latin America, writes The Pharma Letter's local correspondent.

The causes for this to happen are quite diverse, relating to cultural context, domestic policies and regulations, and their social reality, especially the socio-economic level of the people, which according to experts, causes inequities in the region, along with a lack of consistent, reliable regulation.

Faced with this situation, the panorama of some chronic diseases such as hypertension is complicated, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has indicated, in a study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, where it reveals significant barriers in access to essential medicines for hypertension in Latin America and the Caribbean and significant variations in the setting and acquisition of medicines, which together hinder access and affordability.