Abstract

QUENTAL, Cristiane; ABREU, Jussanã Cristina de; BOMTEMPO, José Vitor  and  GADELHA, Carlos Augusto Grabois. Generic drugs in Brazil: impacts of public policies upon the national industry. Ciênc. saúde coletiva [online]. 2008, vol.13, suppl., pp. 619-628. ISSN 1413-8123.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-81232008000700011.

This paper echoes recent works of Abrasco¹, Gadelha² and Guimarães³ emphasizing the need for a better integration between health policies and industrial development and innovation policies as the only way to keep the economic benefits generated by health expenditures in the country instead of letting them escape through imports and threaten the continuity of the social policy by growing trade deficits. Although presenting the generic drug policy as a successful case in integrating social policies aimed at a better access to quality drugs for the population with economic policies aimed at industrial development, this paper discusses the impacts and limitations of the referred policy in a dialog with Abreu's analysis of industrial competitiveness in the Brazilian generics industry.

Keywords : Public policies; Drug policy; Generic drugs.