Govt will increase local purchase of medicines — Prez
The government is to double the purchase of locally manufactured medicines to further prop up the industry, President John Dramani Mahama has said.
Currently, 30 per cent of public sector medicine requirements are procured locally, but the President said that would move to 60 per cent “in the shortest possible time".
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He made this known when the leadership and some members of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana called on him at the Flagstaff House last Tuesday to express their appreciation to him for keeping to his promise to help enhance the business of local medicine manufacturing companies.
The government has, in furtherance of its Agenda for Transformation and the promotion of made-in-Ghana products, granted local medicine companies, through EDAIF, about $26 million to help expand their businesses.
The beneficiary companies include Ernest Chemists, Entrance Pharmaceuticals (Tobinco), DanAdams, Dannex, KAMA and Kinapharma.
Cutting drug importation
Some pharmaceutical companies have expressed concern over the continued importation of medicines, especially anti-retrovirals, into the country, in spite of the proven capacity of local manufacturing companies to meet the demand.
DanAdams, for instance, produces anti-retroviral drugs for supply to the West African market, especially Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Benin.
Lessons from fire incident
President Mahama said the fire incident at the Central Medical Stores in Tema brought to the fore the flaws in the procurement system for medicines.
He said he had charged the ministries of Health and Trade to collaborate with the pharmaceutical manufacturers to come up with a plan for the procurement of locally produced medicines.
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The plan, he said, “must be competitive, one that gives us the best price and one that makes the best use of locally manufactured medicines”.
President Mahama said the pharmaceutical industry was one of the pillars of the transformation of the country and that was why the government prioritised it.
“It has the capacity to create many jobs and Ghana could become a major hub for the production of pharmaceuticals for supply into the sub-region.
“The dialogue between us must, therefore, continue to improve quality and create the assurance in quality,” he added.
Touching on fake medicines on the market, he said the incidence in Ghana was not as high as found in other countries, adding, “We need to keep that standard and quality so that we can be more competitive on the market.”
VAT law repeal
The President of the association, Mr Ernest Bediako Sampong, thanked President Mahama for listening to their pleas to amend the Value Added Tax (VAT) Law to exempt more than 1,500 products from VAT, thereby giving local manufacturers an advantage.
“The repeal of the VAT Law has brought a lot of good to the industry,” he said.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah; the Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, and his deputy, Dr Victor Bampoe.