Abstract

Drugs Regulation In Argentina (1946-2014). Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2017, vol.12, n.35, pp.153-174. ISSN 1850-0013.

Law no 26.688 related to public production of drugs was approved in Argentina in 2014. It promoted the production of drugs at public institutions and stated the national interest in public research and production of drugs and of the raw material used in producing drugs, vaccines and other medical products. This regulation reactivated previous ideas and traditions from two experiences: 1) the creation in 1947 of a drugs state company, Empresa de Medicamentos del Estado Argentino (EMESTA), directed by the first Minister of Public Health, Ramón Carrillo; and 2) drugs laws no 16.462 and n° 16.463, sanctioned in 1964 due to the stimulus of the Minister of Health and Social Assistance, Arturo Oñativia, during Umberto Illia’s presidency. This paper compares these three initiatives in policy regulation of drugs production and commercialization and establishes continuities and ruptures among the public discussions provoked, the health ideologies mobilized, the development of scientific and technological local capacities in each moment, the main actors involved, their interests and power differences, and the resulting conflicts.

Keywords : Regulation; Drugs; Public initiatives.