African Countries Lack Access to Essential Medicines

Mrs. Karen McColl

It’s regrettable that one of the biggest challenges still facing African countries is the lack of access to essential medicines. This is in spite of the recent breakthroughs recorded in the continent.


This is part of the views shared in a report in British Medical Journal by Karen McColl http://kmfreelance.blogspot.com as adopted by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) www.nepad.org, June 2010, monthly newsletter.

McColl said that the key to the continent’s future is economic and social development adding that the idea of building a strong domestic pharmaceutical sector is appealing to African leaders. ”It is also easy to understand why they may look with some envy towards countries like India—which, in just a few years, has built up a reputation as the “pharmacy to the developing world.”

More than 120 Initiatives and Institutions Identified

She observed that a new study has identified more than 120 initiatives and institutions involved in researching and developing cures for neglected diseases, producing and delivering medicines in Africa, or otherwise improving access to medicines in the continent.

According to her, most of these initiatives are being driven by international players. “In Africa, the agenda for drug development, production, procurement, and access to medicines is being largely defined by international programs—a situation that would be unthinkable in other parts of the world. While these international programs have helped a lot, African countries are now saying we want to take charge of our own situation.”

McColl noted that the contribution of these global health initiatives is recognized and that there is increasing political momentum behind the idea of Africans themselves driving forward the agenda.

She stated: “The global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation, and intellectual property, adopted at the 2008 World Health Assembly, and the African Union (AU’s) Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa, adopted by African health ministers in 2007, are key elements of that new policy drive.”

The New Initiative led by NEPAD and COHRED

She observed that a new initiative led by NEPAD, in partnership with the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), and the AU, aims to translate these policy instruments into practice stressing that the initiative, which builds on the joint study, proposes tools and a practical process for countries to put the global strategy into action.

“The NEPAD-COHRED study, which provides the first overview of who is doing what in terms of pharmaceutical innovation in Africa, found the cause for optimism. Thirty seven countries in Africa now have some local manufacturing capacity for drugs. Egypt and Tunisia produce between 60% and 95% of their own national requirements for essential medicines,” McColl stated.

Discovery of Sickle Cell Anemia Management Drug

She said that there is much more to innovation, than local manufacturing and that there are examples of innovation at different stages along the drug development pipeline adding that at the research end of the spectrum, collaboration between researchers and traditional healers in Nigeria, for example, led to the discovery and development of a drug for managing sickle cell anemia.

McColl stated: “At the delivery end of the pipeline, a retail franchise model is being used in Kenya to set up a network of Child and Family Wellness shops to dispense essential medicines.”