Experts Lounge
Conclusion
To guarantee access, countries need to explore interventions that allow for competitive pricing of medicines including the existence of independent regulatory framework to guide assessments of the value of any new medicine. Provisions to allow for parallel importation( where appropriate), and options for invoking strategies that include compulsory licensing that promote access to affordable medicines must be explored. In addition, countries need to pay attention to cost increment that occur through the distribution chain, and to the role of copayments in limiting access to essential medicines. Interventions to improve transparency regarding Research and Development( R & D) costs and production costs need to be investigated and implemented.
Note: Dr Reuben Sigey is a pharmacist working for an international pharmaceutical company. He is a keen follower of politics, policy and other market shaping happenings within the health care and pharmaceutical industry regionally and abroad. Opinions expressed on this column are his own personal views and do not represent the thinking of his employer nor that of the Health Business Magazine.
Health Finance
Kenya among top contributors to Global Fund Against AIDS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks at the closing session of the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Montréal.
Kenya has been listed among the top contributors to the Global Fund Against
AIDS, Tuberculosis( TB) and Malaria in Africa after she announced a donation of Sh500 million towards the kitty.
The announcement was made by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed who spoke on behalf of President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Global Fund Replenishment conference in Montreal, Canada last week.
The Global Fund has played a major role in supporting Kenya’ s success in combating HIV / Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria over the years.
“ Our partnership with the Global Fund has saved more than 300,000 lives in Kenya,” said Mr Kenyatta in a statement.
12 November-December 2016