E-DRUG: Launch of First National Medicines Policy in Haiti
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Dear e-druggers,
On June 30, Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) launched the country’s first National Medicines Policy (NMP). The release of the NMP is an important step for the Haitian pharmaceutical sector, providing the first framework for pharmaceutical regulation in the country.
The MSPP worked with the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program and other stakeholders to draft and finalize the NMP. SIAPS Program assisted the MSPP in a number of areas, including:
- Revising the 1997 draft of the NMP to incorporate the recommendations of stakeholders and the WHO, and take into account changes in global health trends. Conducting a series of five one-day stakeholder engagement workshops to discuss pharmaceutical sector gaps and to propose recommendations for inclusion in the NMP.
- Forming working groups and coordinating meetings of stakeholders responsible for the elaboration of the different sections of the NMP.
- Establishing a task force to support the review and the submission process for the NMP.
-Finalizing and printing 5,000 copies of the NMP in September 2014.
At the launch, Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul hailed the NMP as an essential step toward achieving the MSPP’s goal of ensuring the availability, accessibility, and optimal use of affordable essential medicines by 2035, calling it “the result of a long participatory process with the involvement of all stakeholders from the public and private sectors”.
For more information on the NMP drafting process and launch, see the SIAPS Program blog: http://bit.ly/1Nvfzqc
Regards
*Elyse Franko-Filipasic*
*Senior **Communications **Associate*
Center for Pharmaceutical Management
Management Sciences for Health
4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 400
Arlington, VA
Direct: +1-703-667-3788
E-mail: efranko-filipasic@msh.org
www.msh.org