Hi, it’s Janice in Johannesburg, where I’ve been using some locally produced medication to get over a head cold. While getting this type of basic medicine is easy enough, African countries still depend on foreign suppliers for as much as 90% of their pharmaceuticals.
How Africa can boost local drugs production
Africa is used to getting the short end of the straw when it comes to drug supplies. This is a continent more than three times the size of the US, with a rapidly growing population and home to some of the world’s most infectious and endemic diseases and yet it continues to stand last in line when it comes to securing novel medicines. Or even established ones for that matter.
This inequity came to the fore during the pandemic when the early landgrab for Covid-19 vaccines among rich, western nations exposed the fragility of Africa’s drug supply chain.
As it stands, Africa relies on foreign drugmakers for as much as 90% of its medicines and 99% of its vaccines. And even when it does get a chance to make its own treatments, things don’t always go to plan.
The continent’s biggest drug company, Aspen Pharmacare, secured a deal to make a Covid vaccine under license from Johnson & Johnson and five months later it hadn’t received a single order. Initial safety concerns over the J&J shot prompted African nations, including Aspen’s home market of South Africa, to secure shots made abroad by the likes of Pfizer Inc. The episode was a big setback for one of the most plausible pan-African vaccine rollouts.
Everyone is aware of the significant challenges to drug production in Africa but there may be hope. I spoke to Lamia Tazi, CEO of Morocco’s biggest drug company Sothema, who says the goal of cutting imports of vaccines to Africa by at least half by 2040 is not a pipe dream.
It starts with talking about intellectual-property protections because having autonomy to manufacture is very important, she said, speaking to me at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa forum in Marrakesh, Morocco last month. Forming partnerships for the transfer of new technologies helps speed up the process. Otherwise, it’s hard for African countries to develop products at prices that would be acceptable until patents expire, and that can take 20 years.
“It’s not possible to discuss equity and sustainability without talking about this,” she said.
While Africa doesn’t have budgets for big research, it could specialize in other parts, such as clinical trials and so-called fill and finish, the final steps of production. This would create many thousands of jobs for African pharmacists, biologists and innovators, Tazi said.
Equally, she urges governments to take responsibility in ensuring local uptake rather than merely relying on the international vaccine alliance Gavi or on Unicef, which she said are not pushing for autonomy in African countries.
This demand could also be boosted by universal health insurance, where people have access to funds and the ability to choose where they get care, she said. — Janice Kew
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Source : Bloomberg.com