Bill 528.

Summary.

The bill proposes creating the National Diabetes Council (Consejo Nacional de Diabetes) as an advisory and interinstitutional coordination body attached to the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud). Its duties would include advising on national strategies, coordinating public and private participants, promoting research, advancing access to basic monitoring technologies, and strengthening early diagnosis of complications. Its members would represent health and education institutions, patient and professional associations, and public health organizations. Representatives of civil associations recognized by the Ministry of Government (Ministerio de Gobierno) would rotate every two years. The Council would meet regularly every two months, and the Ministry of Health would regulate its operation.

The National Registry of Persons with Diabetes (Registro Nacional de Personas con Diabetes) would be a single, secure, interoperable, mandatory database administered by the Ministry of Health for individualized care and clinical follow-up of people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus. It would hold clinical information, metabolic control indicators, comorbidities, and recorded complications. Public and private hospitals, along with health centers operated by the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social), would report to and access the registry to maintain continuity of treatment. Personal data would be handled under Law 81 of 2019 on personal data protection (Ley 81 de 2019 sobre protección de datos personales). Each facility would designate a Personal Data Compliance Officer to liaise with the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Autoridad Nacional de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información).

The bill would amend Law 136 of 2020 (Ley 136 de 2020) to promote blood or interstitial glucose self-testing, provide information about portable glucose meters, facilitate access to meters and supplies, update treatment protocols and essential medicines, and ensure continuous delivery of those medicines. It would also require nationwide campaigns and continuous, systematic, mandatory training for health personnel on clinical guidelines, related technologies, and educational and psychosocial care. An added provision would make the Ministry of Health the implementing authority and require it to coordinate care for insured people and beneficiaries diagnosed with diabetes with the Social Security Fund.

Public and private schools would be prohibited from selling, distributing, or promoting sugary drinks as defined in Law 114 of 2019 (Ley 114 de 2019). Nutrition and physical education would become compulsory parts of the official curriculum beginning in primary education. Amendments to that law would expand the duties of the Commission for Health Improvement (Comisión para el Mejoramiento de la Salud) to include oversight of the Action Plan to Improve Health, review of collected funds and submitted information, publication of an annual consolidated report, and coordination of an annual public hearing. Institutions managing selective tax revenue from sugary drinks would submit public annual reports and report to the Health Committee (Comisión de Salud) of the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), without affecting the powers of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República). The Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas) and the Ministry of Health would review diabetes incidence every three (3) years to adjust the tax rate proportionately.

The Ministry of Health would lead national diabetes policy and establish auditable indicators, short-term (2 years) and medium-term (5 years) targets, impact measures, and reviews every five (5) years, using registry data and other official sources. It would submit a public annual report to the Health Committee of the National Assembly. The National Diabetes Council would participate in evaluations and could issue technical reports. The bill would allocate annually no less than one percent (1 %) of the Gross Domestic Product of the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá) for its implementation and compliance with Law 114 of November 18, 2019 (Ley 114 de 18 de noviembre de 2019) and Law 136 of 2020, through each fiscal year's General State Budget Law (Ley de Presupuesto General del Estado). It provides six (6) months for regulations, thirty (30) calendar days for the Council's first meeting, and commencement upon promulgation. Its provisions concern health, education, and finance authorities, patients, health providers, schools, and the sugary drinks sector.