International drug procurement and market intelligence: Cuba

Cuba's experience during the last 20 years is reviewed as far as international procurement and market intelligence are concerned. The steps taken during that period, in order to provide the Cuban people with the most efficacious medicines at the lowest cost are enumerated and analysed. The paper then discusses several aspects of Cuban drug policy: for instance, promoting national production of drugs; converting active ingredients into pharmaceutical forms; promoting research and development and technological innovation; and establishing an adequate infrastracture, including specialized institutional structures, for the evaluation of technology transfer and development in order to meet the demands made by human beings and animals on the pharmaceutical industry. The article also discusses the functions of Medi-Cuba dealing both with foreign commerce and its role as a drug intelligence centre for the pharmaceutical industry and research establishment.