Africa carries around 24% of the global disease and illness burden but its pharmaceutical industry is worth less than 1% of this $857bn global industry.While the amount that is spent on healthcare in Africa is rising rapidly, access to medicine is often a matter of life and death, and demand is not based on choice but on absolute need.…
While pharmacy chain stores are a common sight on the high streets of the US, UK or Japan, they are few and far between in most African countries.…
Estimates vary but about half of all state health spending in sub-Saharan Africa goes on drugs, so pricing has a massive impact on the ability of health services to save and protect lives.…
The pool of pharmaceutical companies with an interest in African markets is certainly on the rise.…
1 Unreliable medicine supply systems continue to hamper access.…
One of the biggest debates in the African pharmaceutical industry is the same as in the wider health sector – who should pay for medication and care: patients, the state or even employers?…
Perhaps the biggest driver for improved access to medicine has been India’s emergence as the pharmacy of the world.…
Africa carries a large proportion of the global disease burden because it must confront both easily treated diseases of poverty and also the growing problem of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, diabetes and cancers.…
The influx of Indian companies has been very welcome but it would be better if there were more competition in the sector.…
Africa has long struggled to find its place within the global pharmaceutical industry.…
