Abstract

We are proud to present this special issue of Value in Health: Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research in Latin America. We present a combination of plenary summaries presented at the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Second Latin America Conference held in Brazil during September 2009, and original research studies conducted in our region. We think this corpus gives a very rich picture of the current state of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research in Latin America.

Like the ISPOR Asia Consortium [1,2], the ISPOR Latin America Consortium promotes biennial conferences held in the region with a two-fold mission: to help develop knowledge and capacity for health economics and outcomes research in Latin America and to promote the use of health economics and outcomes research in policy-making processes, with the goal of improving resource allocation efficiency. This second ISPOR Latin American conference, with its theme “Uniting Research and Policy to Improve Health Care in Latin America,” had a major level of participation and success in the region.

During the past decade or so, a large number of Latin American countries have undertaken profound reforms of their health care systems. Even though the details are country-specific, a common issue is the need to establish a mechanism that ensures efficient allocation of scarce resources, as well as guaranteeing a wide provision of health care services on the basis of local population needs and equity [3].