Asunción, February 2025 (PAHO) - Thanks to the technical cooperation provided by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), National Health Surveillance Directorate (DINAVISA, by Spanish acronym) updated the methodology for price regulation for over-the-counter medications by issuing 'DINAVISA Resolution 174/2004,' which came into effect in November 2024.
The methodological update involved migrating from a price-setting scheme based on mark-up margins -established in 1991- to a scheme based on international price referencing. Simultaneously, the Medicines Prices Observatory was established, which includes multisectoral participation and will increase transparency regarding medication prices, as well as monitor compliance with price-setting regulations, coordinating the observatory participating actors. Initial results show substantial prices reductions for medicines of high public health interest, such as oncology medications.
The regulation was developed with the technical cooperation of the Access to Medicines and Health Technologies Unit of the Department of Innovation, Access to Medicines, and Health Technologies (IMT/AH) from the Policies and Access Strategies line of work.
This Technical Cooperation by PAHO with Paraguay’s national authorities will continue in a subsequent phase, addressing the monitoring implementation and making the necessary methodological adjustments, as well as deepening the measurement of the economic and social impact following the adoption of the regulation.
