[Health sector reform and pharmaceutical policy in Peru]

This article analyzes the Shared Pharmaceutical Management Program (PACFARM) and its relationship to pharmaceutical policy in Peru within the scope of health sector reform. Implementation of various programs for essential medicines has involved an on-going effort towards improving the supply of essential drugs to the community. However, the corresponding legal framework includes random and disconnected regulations which hinder the feasibility of a consistent national drug policy. PACFARM is a decentralized system for the provision of essential medicines on a care-level basis, self-supported by revolving funds. While expanded coverage and decreased economic barriers to access to essential medicines provided the basis for a pharmaceutical policy and traits of supply management efficiency kept pace with administrative modernization as part of the reform, other aspects hindered the program's implementation and limited its effects, including deregulation and the very processes of change in the sector. The study's methodology included qualitative and quantitative techniques, prioritizing an analysis of the program's implementation.