Local production of pharmaceuticals in Africa and access to essential medicines

Urban bias’ in access to imported medicines in Tanzania and its policy implications

Datos Bibliográficos

ID19534733
AutoresPhares GM Mujinja (Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences), Maureen Mackintosh (0000-0002-7000-4686, The Open University, autor de correspondencia), Mary Justin-Temu, Marc Wuyts (Research on Poverty Alleviation)
Año2014
Volumen10
Número1
Páginas12-12
Fecha de publicación2014-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGlobalization and Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1744-8603 • E-ISSN: 1744-8603
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1186/1744-8603-10-12
PMID24612518
PMCIDPMC4021829
OpenAlexW2097224233
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas22

BACKGROUND: International policy towards access to essential medicines in Africa has focused until recently on international procurement of large volumes of medicines, mainly from Indian manufacturers, and their import and distribution. This emphasis is now being challenged by renewed policy interest in the potential benefits of local pharmaceutical production and supply. However, there is a shortage of evidence on the role of locally produced medicines in African markets, and on potential benefits of local production for access to medicines. This article contributes to filling that gap. METHODS: This article uses WHO/HAI data from Tanzania for 2006 and 2009 on prices and sources of a set of tracer essential medicines. It employs innovative graphical methods of analysis alongside conventional statistical testing. RESULTS: Medicines produced in Tanzania were equally likely to be found in rural and in urban areas. Imported medicines, especially those imported from countries other than Kenya (mainly from India) displayed 'urban bias': that is, they were significantly more likely to be available in urban than in rural areas. This finding holds across the range of sample medicines studied, and cannot be explained by price differences alone. While different private distribution networks for essential medicines may provide part of the explanation, this cannot explain why the urban bias in availability of imported medicines is also found in the public sector. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that enhanced local production may improve rural access to medicines. The potential benefits of local production and scope for their improvement are an important field for further research, and indicate a key policy area in which economic development and health care objectives may reinforce each other

Access to medicines · Business · Developing country · Economic growth · Economics · Essential medicines · Geography · Health care · Market access · Pharmaceutical policy · Procurement · Public economics · Socioeconomics · Tanzania · Intellectual Property and Patents · Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy · Pharmaceutical Quality and Counterfeiting · Health Policy · Marketing