Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

263 blue inscriptions is still remembered by Chileans and they associate it with low prices. Laboratorio Chile is currently a private transnational company with Israeli capital belonging to the TEVA group and has maintained similar graphics on its labels to the ones the National Formulary used to have. During the military dictatorship (1973-1990), many of the achievements that had been made in terms of access to medicines were undone. So were the generic drug production system and price regulation. The Pharmacy Circuit Law, which defined a minimum distance of 400 meters between pharmacies in order to facilitate access and expand territorial availability of medications (Gobierno de Chile, 1942), was repealed. It should be noted that these establishments were generally owned by pharmaceutical chemists (Colegio Químico Farmacéutico y Bioquímico de Chile A.G., 2003). Thus, this place where people used to seek pharmaceutical guidance and health advice, gradually transformed into a commercial entity whose main objective became to maximize profits at the expense of people’s health goals. This was facilitated by vertical integration, where a company owns both a chain of pharmacies and a pharmaceutical production laboratory. Employees, whether pharmaceutical chemists or specialized assistants, were required to recommend products from the pharmacy’s affiliated laboratory while receiving additional commissions based on how convincing and influential they were with customers. There was also an incentive system called “canela” (which means “cinnamon”) that provided commission for selling certain branded products at high prices. In summary, it was a detrimental set of incentives. The situation has changed since modifications were made to the Sanitary Code in 2014 which prohibited practices that incentivized or favored certain products over others (Gobierno de Chile, 2014), thanks to the work of pharmaceutical chemist professionals and the exposure and denouncement by pharmacy assistants who opposed receiving their salaries through these mechanisms. Another important and decisive factor was the collusion scandal involving the three main pharmacy chains: Ahumada, Salcobrand and Cruz Verde. They were accused by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE) of colluding to increase prices of more than 200 products between November 2007 and April 2008 (Cruz, n. d.). Although this process ended with sanctions much lower than expected, which was favorable to business interests (Sernac, 2019), it exposed improper commercial practices. Undoubtedly, this illegal practice influenced widespread support from citizens for the initiative of “Farmacias Populares” (popular pharmacies) launched by Recoleta’s Mayor Daniel Jadue in October 2015. As he stated, it was a measure to improve access and challenge the economic model