National medicines policies: a review of the evolution and development processes.

A national medicines policy developed in a collaborative fashion identifies strategies and provides a comprehensive framework to develop all components of a national pharmaceutical sector. The policy process is as important as the policy document, since the process creates a mechanism for stakeholders to come together and collective ownership of the final policy can be achieved. The analysis of four examples of a national medicines policy formulation process shows that a political window of opportunity usually serves as a key element in reforming a national medicines policy. Political pressure by national experts or nongovernmental organizations is generally needed to establish a single comprehensive document. (aut. ref.)