In the 1960s and 1970s Chile attempted to introduce a rational policy, based on a limited number of essential drugs.
In Chile in 1971, the government of Dr Salvador Allende organised centralised bulk procurement and the first international tender for raw materials was called.
However, the pharmaceutical industry struck back and, in the three months following the call for tender, widely used drugs disappeared from the market, including analgesics and antibiotics.
The SPC bought from an Indian company the raw material necessary for a widely used tranquilliser at a much lower price than that charged by a Swiss multinational.jh It is essential that correct information drugs and therapeutics be given to all medical personnel.
The extravagant promotional practices of drugs manufacturers were stopped to remove the dangers and costs inherent in process.
With Bibile's assistance, it published "Case Studies in the Transfer of Technology: Pharmaceutical Policies in Sri Lanka".
The successful implementation of pharmaceutical reforms in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was due to the presence of the vital ingredient of political will with which real progress is possible.