February 21, 2017 -- Bogotá, Colombia – The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) announced today it has formally launched an inter-American coalition on ethical business practices in the medical technology sector.

AdvaMed and ALDIMED, the Latin American medical technology association, convened an organizational meeting of regional medtech associations to formally launch the coalition. The group – which thus far includes medtech associations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, the United States, and Venezuela – seeks to create and endorse “Bogotá Principles” for ethical behavior, harmonizing and implementing medtech codes of ethics across the Americas under a mutual work plan. The coalition will also welcome other leading health system stakeholders into its efforts.

“This coalition reflects the shared commitment of AdvaMed and the Latin American medical technology community to advance global harmonization of ethical business practices among manufacturers, distributors, health care professionals, and other stakeholders across the region,” said Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of AdvaMed.


“As medical technology innovation extends beyond national and cultural boundaries, there is a growing need to promote common principles of business ethics across borders, to help ensure patient access to the life-saving and life-enhancing treatments and cures they need. We have seen important advances in this effort across the Asia-Pacific region, and are pleased to see them expand across the Western Hemisphere,” Whitaker said.

The inter-American coalition’s effort is an expansion of an initiative currently in place across the Asia-Pacific that is implementing the Kuala Lumpur Principles – guidelines that support development of aligned, voluntary codes of ethics for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies’ respective medical technology sectors. The principles help promote ethical interactions between medical technology companies and health care professionals.

“This inter-American coalition emphasizes the importance of promoting a globally harmonized environment of high-standard ethical business practices among medical technology manufacturers, distributors and health care professionals,” said Christopher L. White, AdvaMed chief operating officer and general counsel.

The announcement comes at the outset of the Feb. 21-23 Latin America Compliance Conference and Distributor Workshop in Bogotá, Colombia. Organized by AdvaMed in cooperation with ANDI-CDMIS and other leading medtech associations, the conference serves as industry’s premier regional event for addressing compliance challenges, as well as advancing innovative collaborations that strengthen ethical business practices. For more information on the conference, click here.


AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.

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