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The fight over local versus imported medicines turned vicious in the past week, with various groups, including doctors, taking hardline positions.
A national health sector forum organised by the Ministry of Health last week at the Laico Regency, Nairobi, demanded the cost of medicines be brought down if the country is to achieve affordable medical care for all by 2022.
In a group report read by Catherine Maingi of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) on Wednesday, health workers want the list of essential medicines to be reviewed urgently.
A reviewed list, they said, must include drugs for emerging chronic conditions which will be protected against high prices, stock-outs and be part of the universal healthcare package.
They said one way to bring down the cost of medicines in Kenya is to support local manufacturers.
But a local non-governmental organisation, the Kenya Treatment Access Movement (KETAM), has written to the government opposing plans to impose a 25 per cent duty on imported medicines.
In a pre-Budget proposal, KMA wants the Treasury to impose a 25 per cent duty on imported medicines for which there is sufficient local manufacturing capacity.
This, KMA says, will cushion local manufacturers against huge donor-supported tax-free drug imports from China and India and strengthen local capacity.
Unfair trade practices
In a report appearing on the last issue of the Sunday Standard, a study by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) said duty-free donor-funded imports from China and India were killing the local pharmaceutical industry. Following complaints over unfair trade practices from local manufacturers, Trade Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said they were working with the National Treasury on the matter.
But KETAM says imposing any tax on imported medicine will likely increase the cost of healthcare and compromise quality. In an interview with the Sunday Standard, KETAM CEO James Kamau said even with 25 per cent duty on imported medicines, they will still be cheaper than from local producers.
“So why impose a tax that will only increase the cost of medicines without giving local manufactures any apparent advantage?” says Kamau.
He says protecting local manufactures through ring-fencing will also protect poor quality medicines, which infringes on the constitutional rights of consumers.
But Palu Dhanani, chairman of the Federation of Kenya Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, says there is no reason for drug prices to go up or quality to drop.
“In fact, we are suggesting several other policy changes which could help lower the cost of medicines in Kenya,” says Dhanani.
Such include lobbying for more local companies holding the UN accepted GMP certification to be allowed to participate in international tenders now a preserve of a few World Health Organization (WHO) pre-qualified companies. By 2010, Kenya had 26 drug companies with such GMP certification.
A similar policy change in South Africa, a UNAids report shows, had reduced government expenditure on anti-retroviral medicines (ARVs) by 53 per cent. Currently, the cost of anti-retrovirals in South Africa is among the lowest in the world.
“With the current pricing of medicines in Kenya, even the best of insurances offer little protection,” says Maingi, a planner at Kemsa.
“Almost half of medical claims are going into buying drugs,” says Catherine Karori, head of medical at Jubilee Insurance.
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