The two organisations aim at increased production of affordable medicine by the private sector in the region. PHOTO | FILE
By CHRISTABEL LIGAMI
In Summary
- The two organisations aim at increased production of affordable medicine by the private sector in the region.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa)
and the United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) are working
together to harmonise the production of medicines and related products
in the region.
UNAids representative to the African Union Rosemary Museminali
said the two organisations aim at increased production of affordable
medicine by the private sector in the region.
Comesa Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said the strategy will
help drive the current Comesa initiatives towards eventual production of
pharmaceuticals in the region and Africa, which depends for more that
80 per cent of its needs on imported pharmaceutical and medical
products.
Currently, Comesa is working on a co-operation framework among
member states in the manufacturing of essential drugs and an amendment
to the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) Agreement on
compulsory licensing for medicine.
Early this year, the Council of Ministers agreed on the creation
of a Comesa pharmaceutical working group to open a larger public
private dialogue on encouraging investments and partnerships in the
industry.
The Council urged states to hold pharmaceutical business
round-tables with manufacturers, associations, policymakers and other
stakeholders as an entry point for deeper engagement with the
pharmaceutical industry on requirements for strengthening local
production.
“The role of pharmaceutical companies in the healthcare system
around the globe is indispensable especially in reducing the time spent
in hospitals, thus improving the quality of life and human development,”
said the Council. Currently, 38 members of the AU have some form of
pharmaceutical production.
But they vary in product quality and the ability of the
regulatory authorities to enforce standards. Manufacturers largely rely
on imports for most of inputs.
Various challenges prevent the industry from scaling up
production. These include steep investment requirements, the need for
expertise and skilled workers, stringent quality standards as a
prerequisite to access donor funded prequalified markets and cross
border regulatory harmonization for regional markets.
In addition, there exists an uneven playing field for locally produced drugs against finished product imports.
The Comesa/UNAids partnership is ultimately aimed at enabling
local production of pharmaceuticals which will advance industrial
development, reduce external dependency, facilitate stronger regulatory
oversight to curtail counterfeit products, improve the balance of
payments through savings on foreign exchange and create job
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