Major Boost for Production of Medicines in Africa

The findings of OU-led research on African pharmaceutical production have been taken up in the Tanzanian government's new five-year development plan Nurturing Industrialisation for Economic Transformation and Human Development, helping to push the local manufacture of medicines sharply up the government agenda and contributing to a significant shift in thinking.

The text (displayed in a box on page 49 of the plan) highlights that local production can both enhance access to medicines for all and contribute to inclusive economic growth, before discussing how the local share of the market is in decline due to factors such as rising barriers to market entry and increased competition from imports – most of which are subsidised in their countries of origin.

The evidence is taken from work by a team of researchers, led by IKD research fellow Paula Tibandebage at top-ranked Tanzania think tank REPOA, which was carried out as part of the research project 'Industrial Productivity, Health Sector Performance and Policy Synergies for Inclusive Growth: A Study in Tanzania and Kenya' funded by the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme (DEGRP).

The report from which the text was taken argues that although the pharmaceutical industry in Tanzania is currently in decline, it can be revived. That the findings by REPOA were incorporated into the five-year plan, suggests the government intends to support such a revival. An optimism further borne out by a report in Tanzania's Daily News that the government has announced that within five years 60 per cent of all medicines used in the country will be manufactured locally.

The research is also making a big impact in Kenya, where IKD Director and Principal Investigator Maureen Mackintosh has been invited by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) to speak at the high-level World Investment Forum in July.