UP

African countries 'pay 30 times more' for drugs

Home page Health
12 Punto 14 Punto 16 Punto 18 Punto

African countries with small to medium-sized economies pay far more money for less effective drugs, a leading health expert has told.

Axar.az reports citing BBC.

In countries such as Zambia, Senegal and Tunisia, everyday drugs like paracetamol can cost up to 30 times more than in the UK and USA.

Drug markets in poorer countries "just don't work", said Kalipso Chalkidou from the Centre for Global Development.

She said "competition is broken" due to a "concentrated supply chain".

Ms Chalkidou, director of global health policy at the organisation, co-authored a report on drug procurement that concluded that small to middling economy countries buy a smaller range of medicines, leading to weaker competition, regulation and quality.

It says richer countries, thanks to public money and strong processes for buying drugs, are able to procure cheaper medicines.

Poorer countries, however, tend to buy the most expensive medicines, rather than cheaper unbranded pharmaceuticals which make up 85% of the market in the UK and US.

The very poorest countries are not affected when foreign donors purchase medicine on their behalf, meaning their over-the-counter medicines remain at low cost.

Date
2019.06.23 / 21:36
Author
Axar.az
See also

WHO pushes bold reforms, launching 3 by 35 initiative

Scientists discover new coronavirus

Azerbaijan performs first deceased donor organ transplants

Fifty countries affected by USAID freeze - WHO

Monkeypox case confirmed in Azerbaijan

WHO calls for international support to fund aid in Gaza

30 metapneumovirus cases reported in Kazakhstan

Human metapneumovirus epidemic reported in China

WHO marks 5 years of COVID-19 and ongoing efforts

Expert warns of public health emergency in Delhi

Latest
Xocalı soyqırımı — 1992-ci il Bağla
Bize yazin Bağla
ArxivBağla