Objective

To establish the purchase price, authorization strategies, availability of health registrations and technical specifications for the purchase of mechanical ventilators in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A health technology assessment was conducted by searching for technical specifications, health registrations and safety information on mechanical ventilators purchased by nine Latin-American countries including Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. Based on the information of 129 tenders and contracts, technical information was obtained from the websites of 32 suppliers and manufacturers, covering 55 different models of mechanical ventilators. This information was compared to the World Health Organization's technical specifications for mechanical ventilators. Information on the availability of health registrations and safety of ventilators was obtained from searching the websites of the sanitary agencies of the nine countries. Information was recorded in a form designed by the researchers.

Results

In the purchase of mechanical ventilators, significant differences were found in prices, depending on the date of acquisition. Several devices were identified as being non-compliant with some of the technical criteria established by the World Health Organization.

Conclusions

Access to information on contracts for the purchase of mechanical ventilators is limited, both in terms of access and public consultation. Complete technical information must be required from manufacturers and suppliers and information gaps should be avoided, especially for public purchasing processes.