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EF: As president of FIFARMA, what are your priorities for this year, and has your focus changed since you took on the role two years ago?
YG: As I complete my second year at FIFARMA, I am proud to see the organization´s evolution pivot on two significant axes. The first is a shift towards focused action through established priorities. The second is a drive to be more regional, amplifying the voice of Latam in other global arenas. Our vision is to become an increasingly regional organization, fostering connections, identifying successful practices in one country that can serve as a model or inspiration for others, and ensuring that the countries in the region gain visibility on a global scale. We are committed to spreading the voice of Latin America to other parts of the world.
Our priorities moving forward are focused on the alignment of the needs of the region, the first being, treating health as an investment, not simply a cost that should be minimized. Latam is a region that, despite the advances of recent years, still has very limited budgets for health. Compared to the OECD, European, or Asian countries, health budgets are always lower in Latin America. The challenge lies in demonstrating that we will have more positive results for patients and Latin American society with increased investment in health. For this reason, together with the WifOR Institute, we undertook a study on the socioeconomic burden of diseases in Latin America. We analyzed the burden of seven diseases in eight Latin American countries: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The results are clear: disease management in Latam can improve so that there is a greater return on investment. We will continue our strong agenda in this space, within the framework of the G20 and APEC, to show the countries of the region that investing in health pays dividends. Health has powerful economic effects and is an opportunity for these countries to excel.
FIFARMA also has the goal of reducing access times to innovative medicines. Our partner in this project is IQVIA. FIFARMA and IQVIA created the FIFARMA W.A.I.T. indicator for Latin America two years ago. This study analyzes the waiting time Latin American patients experience to access innovative drugs for conditions like cancer as well as orphan diseases. The project is inspired by a European initiative by IQVIA for the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) since 2004. Inspired by that, we developed a similar study in Latin America, and the results show that we are facing a considerable challenge. The region's access to oncology and rare disease medications is limited by regulatory and reimbursement challenges. The good news is that we will launch the third version of the WAIT report in October, and this version will include two more countries, the Dominican Republic and Panama, and three new therapeutic areas: cardiovascular and metabolic, inflammation, and the Central Nervous System, allowing us to have much stronger information on Latin American patients. The WAIT report allows us to speak with countries to build joint strategies. At FIFARMA, we look for robust data that enables us to have powerful conversations.
To mitigate the challenges responsible for increased wait times, we aim to support regional health regulatory agencies in connecting better and improving regulatory standards to achieve standards more aligned with those in other countries. We have two major initiatives in the regulatory field: we are about to launch the Observatory of Good Regulatory Practices, a regional survey to assess how health agency clients measure the development of each agency, creating a powerful tool with comprehensive data to identify the challenges of each agency and secondly, promote and encourage the use of regulatory reliance and foster trust in what health agencies do globally. In May, we had the Reliance Celebration Month organized with IFPMA, showing examples in Europe and globally that can serve as inspiration for health agencies in the region.
FIFARMA’s last major priority is to work on more robust innovation and intellectual property ecosystems in the region to improve the quality and quantity of clinical research, as well as have intellectual property policy certainty. We have great opportunities in the regions and it is key that we actively engage to promote better ecosystems, which in turn will create more competitive systems in our countries.
Our priorities, therefore, include promoting health as an investment, fostering innovation, protecting intellectual property, enhancing regulatory practices, and connecting regional agencies to global standards.
EF: Nova Indústria Brazil (NIB) is an example of the many changes happening in the region to increase national sustainability and self-sufficiency. How can leaders from different countries work together and support each other to change Latam's position on the global map?
YG: First and foremost, collaboration is essential when facing healthcare challenges. Health challenges are broad and have so many elements that collaboration is vital. The region has a wonderful opportunity because two powerful events are being held in Latin America: the G20 in Brazil and APEC in Peru. They are two important moments that offer the chance to discuss the region’s greatest challenges. At the G20, there are two defined topics, digital health, and health self-sufficiency, and both require conversations from all actors at a global and regional level. In APEC, the agenda is broader but also presents an opportunity to align objectives and initiatives. There will be many meetings this second semester to design an action plan. Collaboration in the many existing initiatives is essential and can trigger changes quickly. These are not necessarily large initiatives but small actions such as regulatory harmonization and convergence. More alignment and matching regulatory standards would help attract more production, capacity development, and clinical research to the region.
EF: You have worked in defense, education, and now healthcare, three areas which, at the surface, seem unrelated. What is the guiding purpose that has taken you to all these places? What do they have in common?
YG: Transformation is the unifying word that applies to all the areas I have worked in. I like improving a situation, regardless of the area, to transform reality into something better. Defense is about keeping people safe, health is about giving people long, healthy lives, and education is about generating opportunities for the next generation. I worked in defense when Colombia was in an armed conflict, looking for solutions for the country’s security. My work in the Colombian Science Ministry involved making Columbians aware of the important role science plays in the country's development; education is the most powerful tool for the generation of opportunity. An educated person has more chances in life, and I worked to increase their chances. Now I dedicate myself to the greatest mission of all, health. Covid taught us a hard lesson: without health, we have nothing.
EF: Why is one dollar invested in Latin American healthcare worth more than a dollar invested elsewhere?
YG: Latin America has so much potential. Any investment in Latin America has the capacity to ignite so much more positive change because there is so much to do in the region, and one improvement can lead to a domino effect of positive change. The impact of any investment here is powerful and can fill many needs. Latin America has lacked opportunities in the past, but once we get a foothold, the sky is the limit. It is something I have witnessed personally, what we are capable of when given the opportunity.
EF: Do you have any final message to share?
YG: We must continue working together to get where we want. The key to success is discipline and daily insistence on what we want to achieve. Discipline, perseverance, and passion for what we do will give us the necessary energy to keep going and to keep building.
