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Across Africa, getting effective medication to those in need isn’t only a matter of finance, facilities and qualified people. Even with all this in place, timely availability of the pharmaceuticals themselves is often the greatest challenge. This is due to over-reliance on imported products, the supply of which is often disrupted.
Dr Patrick Lukulay is President of Technology Solutions for Global Health, a valued MEG partner which strives to solve this problem by improving standards in locally produced medicines. He explains:
70% of medicines used in African countries come from overseas.
This high dependency on external manufacturers leaves communities extremely vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, which are a common occurrence due to everything from natural disasters and conflicts to the current COVID-19 pandemic. African countries are thereby often unable to obtain enough product to meet local demand.
“The large proportion of imported medication is not entirely due to lack of local manufacturing capacity. There are plenty of pharmaceutical production plants in African countries. The problem lies with these local companies’ abilities to comply with international standards. Confidence in their products is therefore low, and procurers whose procurement policy requires them to buy products manufactured in compliance with international standards are dissuaded from buying locally.”
Raising standards in locally manufactured products
As one of these procurers, MEG has a strong interest in resolving the product availability issue. Our own stringent policies, in place to ensure our customers’ money is spent on quality-assured products, mean we very carefully scrutinise every producer for compliance with GMP standards. If locally manufactured pharmaceuticals don’t meet these, our ability to deliver is also dependent on imports and the associated international supply chain vulnerabilities. The best solution for us, and our customers, is better confidence in locally manufactured products, which have been manufactured in compliance with internationally recognised standards.
It is for this reason that we are proud to partner with Technology Solutions for Global Health, who’s work focusses on breaking the cycle of dependency on external suppliers. They work closely with pharmaceuticals manufacturers around Africa, supporting them in their efforts to meet the global standards required by procurement agencies and global regulatory bodies. For example, through upgrading facilities to meet cGMP standards and improving quality management systems to ensure the consistent supply of quality-assured medicines.
This eventually results in increased availability of locally produced products which are compliant with international GMP standards.
Products which MEG can trust to be safe, efficacious and of good quality. Products which originate close to the point of use, making delivery significantly faster and more reliable and thereby ensuring product supply security.
