“Many Africans lack access to essential medicines. There are myriad reasons for this: poverty, lack of awareness about the need for treatment, confusion over which drugs to take, technical and logistical challenges in procurement and distribution combined with a general lack of local healthcare staff and infrastructure, among other cultural and political factors. One additional problem is the relatively high price of drugs, which the international community has prioritized by encouraging competition from various generic producers often through compulsory licensing. The latest cost-reduction strategy is the push for local drug production. But, as shown by the start-up problems of Quality Chemicals Industries Limited in Uganda, many burdens and barriers to access continue to seriously hinder the success of such enterprises. Indirect government subsidies to exporters selling into African markets, and pressure by donors and lobbyists on innovator producers to offer developing countries subsidized prices, actually undermine the competitiveness and viability of these nascent firms. Furthermore, the focus on drug pricing and local production can actually undermine the overall aim to increase access to medicines.”
The full policy paper is available here from Africa Fighting Malaria (AFM) a non-profit health advocacy group founded in 2000 and based in South Africa and the United States. Their mission is to make malaria control more transparent, responsive and effective. They conduct research into the social and economic aspects of malaria and raise the profile of the disease and the issues surrounding its control in the local and international media. AFM strives to hold public institutions accountable for funding and implementing effective, integrated and country-driven malaria control policies and to promote successful private sector initiatives to control the disease.
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