NAIROBI, KENYA – Regional pharmaceutical manufacturers government and United Nations agencies met last week to find ways of limiting dependence on imports of drugs and medicines that make up 70% of products sold in the East African Community (EAC) writes JOHN SAMBO.
Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for East African Community Integration, Labour and Social Protection, Phyllis Kandie said the pharmaceutical sector is a critical area of cooperation in health matters within the EAC.
However its growth is being hampered because regional manufacturers are operating at a cost disadvantage due to their scale, expensive asset base coupled with out-dated technology, higher financing costs plus a lack of integration with active pharmaceutical ingredients suppliers.
“This situation makes domestically manufactured medicines uncompetitive compared to imports and the regional pharmaceutical market is therefore dominated by imports with domestic manufacturers only meeting less than 30% of the medicines demand,” Kandie said in a speech read for her by Barrack Ndegwa, the Integration Secretary, in the Ministry.
At the three-day conference were representatives from EAC Partner States including Ministries of Health, Finance and Industry, National Medicines Regulatory Agencies (NMRAs), National Procurement Agencies (NMPAs), AU-NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the private sector (local and international pharmaceutical manufacturers) as well as international development partners and investors among others.
Kandie said the conference was therefore significant as it provides a platform for stakeholders to have a conversation among the policy makers, industry players, the civil society, as well as social and development partners on how to deepen cooperation in the sector.
Giving some insight, Kandie said during 2014, the pharmaceutical market of the EAC was valued at $1.9 billion.
It was forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 8.3% to reach $4.2bilion in 2024. However, Kenya, which is the leading pharmaceutical producer in the region, with approximately 50% production and rising exports, supplies just 25% of the Kenyan market.
Kandie said Tanzania supplies a declining share of its own domestic medicines market, down from 35% in 2009 to between 10% and 20% today.
Kandie requested Development Partners and other stakeholders to support the growth of the sector by engaging and addressing the concerns of the domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers and potential investors.
Josiane Nijimbere,  the Burundi Minister of Public Health and the Fight Against AIDS, said medicines have become a very important and powerful tool, now more than ever, in improving the health status of populations and, in the long term, for reducing healthcare costs and ensuring sustainable development through health working human resource.
‘’I am therefore delighted that the East African Community has decided to hold this conference in collaboration with our Development Partners here present and those who have not been able to make it, raise awareness of various stakeholders on the need to promote investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing,” she said.
She said the health sector  is important because the EAC integration agenda wants to raise standard of living across East Africa.
“To this effect, the development of the pharmaceutical sector and investments is equally critical if we want to achieve the objectives of the Community,” she said.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Christopher Bazivamo said poor performance of the EAC health sector has contributed to shortage of essential medical products and health technologies, which could be produced within the region by the regional industrial sector.
He said,  “About 75% of the EAC pharmaceutical market demand is met through importation of medical products and health technologies while 25% is covered by domestic pharmaceutical production.”
He asked Partner States to consider implementing incentive packages. These may include  a uniform preferential margin of 20% for all regionally produced medicines and medical devices in public tenders according to Article 35 of the Common Market Protocol; removal of duties for imported raw and packing materials.
He also suggested waivers for pharmaceutical manufacturing related equipment as well as spare parts for the equipment acquired by domestic manufacturers registered in the EAC.
Another measure is classification and import restrictions for finished pharmaceutical products that can be produced within the region, based on regional capacity and quality audits of local manufacturers.
Source: Business Week

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