The World Health Organization (WHO) implemented a strategy on medicines and established Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion, which support and promote public health protection through the rational use of medicines.

In view of the influence that promoting, advertising, and publicizing medicines has on those who take them and on their consumption patterns, as well as the subsequent impact on health systems and the harmful health outcomes that this can produce both individually and collectively, it has become necessary to improve, expand, and define ethical criteria to strengthen public health protection and safety concerning the risks associated with the use of medicines.

Within this framework, it is especially necessary to raise awareness and protect the most vulnerable segments of the population, such as children, the elderly, pregnant women, and the chronically ill.

In its regulatory activities related to promoting, publicizing, and advertising medicines1, it is recommended that the Pan American Network for Medicine Regulatory Harmonization (PANDRH) members be guided by the Ethical Criteria supported by and consistent with those already established by the World Health Organization, taking their own national policies and legislation into consideration.