Kenya faces an acute shortage of drugs after pharmaceutical companies
stopped importing medicine and medical equipment on September 30, 2019.
PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Kenya is staring at a health crisis after pharmaceutical
companies stopped importing drugs following a tug-of-war between
importers and the government.
The
Kenya Pharmaceutical Distributors Association Chairman Kamamia Murichu
said on Monday that the companies that import and distribute medicines
and pharmaceutical products had stopped importing the medicines until
the government rescinds a new directive that subjects the products to
double inspections before they are allowed into the country.
MEDICAL PRODUCTS
“This
thing is already affecting us. Over the weekend, we saw seven
containers sent back to India because the consignment did not have the
PVoC,” said Dr Murichu.
The new move
means that the country could run out of drugs and other medical
products. The industry supplies about 80 per cent of all imports into
the country.
Although there are about
35 local drug manufacturers, imports meet the bulk of local demand.
According to data from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), the
industry brought in pharmaceutical imports worth Sh72.8 billion USD $728
million last year.
Through the Ministry of Trade, the government
introduced new regulations that require goods to have a pre-export
verification certificate known as Pre-export Verification of Conformity
(PVoC).
The PVoC is a conformity
assessment certificate which is issued to exporting countries before the
products are brought into the country.
SHIPMENT
From October 1, 2019, every importer must have their goods pre-inspected before leaving the country of export (PVoC).
This
pre-inspection will cost USD $250 (Sh25,000) per product and will be
done by Kenya Bureau of Standards appointed companies like Bureau
Veritas, SGS or Intertek.
A new set
of inspection of goods shipped to the country, which requires importers
to have a pre-shipment certificate of compliance, came into effect in
September 2019.
As a result, shipments that previously took between three to five days now take close to two months.
According
to a circular dated June 4 head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua said
that the new rules are meant “to improve the cost of doing business and
efficiency at ports of entry.”
QUALITY STANDARDS
He
added that the rules seek to ensure that goods coming into the country
adhere to regulatory requirements and conform to quality standards.
The
pharmaceutical companies have warned that not only will the delays
plunge the country into a crisis, but it will also increase the cost of
drugs.
Some essential medicines
including cancer, pain killers, diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy,
stomach ulcers, and even malaria drugs are already out of stock.
If
the goods do not have PVoC they will not be allowed into the country.
Instead, they will be returned to the country of export.
If they come in, the importer will have to pay 30 per cent of the value of each consignment.
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