Challenges and opportunities for the development of a national pharmaceutical policy in Mexico

Unlike many other Latin American countries Mexico has no coherent and explicit national pharmaceutical policy (NPP). Other national challenges are: high out-of-pocket expenditure on medicines despite the implementation of universal health care coverage through Seguro Popular, high prices of medicines in the private sector in comparison to other countries when adjusted for income level, and the lack of clear strategies to improve safety and efficiency in the use of medicines, in particular interventions aimed at private physicians, pharmacies and consumers. The aim of this paper is to describe the challenges and opportunities to (I) consolidate the processes of formulating, implementing and evaluating NPP, and (2) define the policy content with regard to access and use of medicines.