A brief definition and use of the concept of policy throughout time is presented to introduce the “Recommendations for a cooperative development policy for scientific journal collections in Latin America and the Caribbean” proposed by BIREME. The text of the policy was copied (http://secs.bvs.br – Desenvolvimento de coleções na BVS / Política Regional da América Latina – Development of collections in VHL / Latin America Regional Policy) and its main issues are highlighted. A recent policy of Open Access of the US National Institutes of Health is analyzed and the main common issues of these policies are emphasized. The indicators of works carried out for collection cooperative development by the Network of Latin American and the Caribbean Libraries on Health Sciences Information, were gathered through data searched in the Portal of Journals and Collective Catalogue – SeCS - of the Virtual Health Library – VHL. They are shown in graphs, as well as the number and categories of open access journals, and special emphasis is given to SciELO. It also presents the objectives and current results of access to HINARI program, which is financed by the World Health Organization to enable free access to Health scientific journals for poor countries, and to the Portal CAPES Periódicos [CAPES Portal of Journals] in Brazil and Argentina, which is financed by the governments of these countries for the Higher Education institutions. In conclusion is emphasized the need to adopt and comply with this Policy by the authors, producers and intermediaries in the field of information, in order to expand open and/or shared access to Health scientific journals in Latin America and the Caribbean.