ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
unlikely to change in the near future as well . Rising demand for healthcare and associated spending are fueled by an aging population ; the growing prevalence of chronic diseases and comorbidities ; the development of costly clinical innovations ; increasing patient awareness , knowledge , and expectations ; and continued economic uncertainty . Therefore , there are enormous prospects for strengthening the domestic health and pharmaceutical industries in India and Africa . This is also an opportunity where both can collaborate for the well-being of their respective citizenry .
The resurgence of Africa in recent years has coincided with the rise of India as a global player , development partner , and investor . Africa and India together cover about 1 / 4th of the world ’ s land area , support over 1 / 3rd of its population and harbour about half of its disease burden . Africa has been a focus of India ’ s foreign policy since independence , and India is playing a crucial role in extending healthcare cooperation to the African region to fight the scourge of fatal diseases like HIV / AIDS , malaria , TB , infectious diseases , and low maternal and child mortality . As both Indian and African economies are poised to grow rapidly in the coming decades , India could play a larger role in this sphere by increasing access to its high-quality and low priced pharmaceuticals , setting up manufacturing units , creating healthcare infrastructure facilities within Africa , promoting medical tourism and telemedicine services , capacity building , etc .
India is poised to carve a niche for itself in the global pharmaceutical market , and is already informally referred to as the pharmacy of the world . ( Schaffer and Mitra , 2005 ). India ’ s strength in pharmaceuticals lies in its strong generic drug industry . It currently manufactures over 400 bulk drugs and 10,000 formulations . As these are cost competitive in comparison to western products , it helps to reduce the medicinal prices significantly and thereby , extend access to affordable medicines to a larger number of people . The country also has a large pool of scientists and engineers who have the potential to steer the industry ahead to an even higher level . India ' s biotechnology industry comprising bio-pharmaceuticals , bioservices , bio-agriculture , bio-industry , and bioinformatics is expected to grow at an average growth rate of around 30 percent a year and is anticipated to value $ 100 billion by 2025 . The exports of pharmaceutical products were valued at $ 12.5 billion in 2015-16 .
The Indian pharmaceutical industry has clearly demonstrated that it has the potential to be a part of the solution for achieving universal access to healthcare . A number of Indian drug manufacturers have demonstrated their ability to offer affordable essential medicines that comply with stringent quality standards . India also has linguistic advantage in terms of its command over the English language , which many African countries use and understand too . Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers can also set up manufacturing plants in Africa by taking advantage of the international IPR exemptions ( until July 1 , 2021 ) for least developed countries ( LDCs ), as was agreed by the TRIPS Council .
Africa , today , presents an enormous opportunity in terms of economic cooperation and collaboration ; a continent of 54 countries with a population of over a billion people , and the region is home to four of the world ’ s ten fastest-growing economies . The African pharmaceutical industry , too , is growing at an unprecedented pace . With a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR ) of more than 10 percent and with spending on pharmaceuticals expected to reach $ 30 billion by 2017 , Africa is one of the most dynamic pharmaceutical markets in the world . Its market value is projected to rise to $ 40-65 billion by 2020 . Demand for private healthcare in Africa is growing as wealth on the continent expands . About 34 percent of the population falls under the category of middle class , spending between $ 2 and $ 20 daily according to the African Development Bank .
The greatest shared asset between India and Africa is their young people ; about half of the population in each region is under 25 years of age , aspiring for a share in the economic growth . Armed with knowledge and technical skills to solve local problems , these young people have an opportunity to learn from each other ’ s experiences .
Africa can benefit from India ' s expertise to build a robust health infrastructure and
44 • Africa Day Special • 2018