E-drug: East Africa Access Conference Press Release
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New Study Shows East Africans Pay More than Europeans For
Life-Saving Drugs
--Regional leaders call for action--
Nairobi 16 June 2000 - The international movement to increase
access to life-saving medicines gained momentum today, when
government and civil representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,
Ethiopia and participants from 17 other countries met to devise a
regional strategy at a conference in Nairobi.*
"The data presented today confirm our suspicion that Kenyan drug
prices are not only equal to, but actually higher than European prices,"
said Kirsten Myhr of Health Action International, who presented a
pricing study at the conference.** "The figures show that the entire
region is suffering from reverse equity - the poor are paying more than
the rich."
Among the many examples cited in the new study is that of the
potent antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, which was found to be twice as
expensive in Uganda as in Norway. Similarly, an earlier study
comparing retail prices of drugs showed the same disturbing pattern:
ten out of 13 commonly used drugs are more expensive in Tanzania
than in Canada. The huge disparity in average income between the
two countries also means that a Tanzanian would have to work 215
days to buy these 13 drugs, while a Canadian would only have to
work 8.
Another telling example is fluconazole, a treatment for AIDS-related
meningitis. In Thailand, where generic competition has lowered prices,
fluconazole costs only USD $0.30. However, this same drug costs
USD$ 18.00 in Kenya, where it is patent protected. Dr Christopher
Ouma, AIDS project coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in
Kenya said: "I am tired of not being able to treat patients because the
medicines are too expensive. Africans should not be dying because of
inability to pay when effective medicines can be available at affordable
prices. This is already the case in countries such as Thailand, India,
and Brazil."
The causes of high prices of medicines in East Africa include strong
patent protection, high tariffs, taxes and a lack of generic competition.
The issues of high taxes and tariffs and the stimulation of generic
competition need to be addressed directly by national governments.
Much of the discussion amongst conference delegates focused on
strategies to enact legal safeguards to remedy abuses by drug
companies. Within existing international trade rules, such safeguards
include parallel importing (the right to shop around for the best prices
of branded products) and compulsory licensing (granting limited
production rights to generic producers).
"Within existing international trade regulations, Kenyans have the
power to ensure that medicines are affordable and accessible" said
Professor Carlos Correa, an intellectual property expert. "But, these
essential legal safeguards have still not been built into the Kenyan
Industrial Property Bill". This bill is designed to bring Kenya into
compliance with WTO rules and will be considered by parliament in
the coming weeks.
Dr. Amukowa Anangwe, Kenyan Minister for Medical Services,
underlined the need to balance public health needs with private profit:
"It is essential to ensure that the right to issue compulsory licenses
and to allow parallel importing are included in our national legislation"
he said.
Another report presented at the meeting "Patent protection and
medicines in Kenya and Uganda"*** calls on governments to ensure
these safeguards and to include the Ministry of Health and health
professionals when negotiating and adopting trade agreements.
* The conference is organised by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and
Health Action International (HAI)
** "Pharmaceutical Pricing: law of the jungle" by Kirsten Myhr, for
Health Action International - June 2000
*** "Patent protection of medicines in Kenya and Uganda" by Pascale
Boulet, for Medecins Sans Frontieres June 2000
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Daniel Berman
MSF
e-mail: daniel_berman@geneva.msf.org
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