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A factory that will
produce treatments for HIV/AIDS is set to open in Kampala, Uganda, the first of
its kind in the country. It aims to reduce the cost of the vital
medication by cutting import costs. According to Uganda's Health Minister, Dr. Stephen
Malinga, locally
produced anti-retroviral HIV drugs and anti-malaria drugs should be available
by January.
Factories like this are not unheard of. A
factory in Kenya
has been manufacturing a three-in-one pill for several years and is providing
the tablets to the East African region. This is the same pill that will be
manufactured in the Ugandan factory.
Quality Chemicals, a
Ugandan drug importer, will be producing the medicines locally with an Indian
pharmaceutical company, Cipla, one of the world's largest producers of generic
drugs. The hope is to sell them not just in Uganda but also in other African
countries.
Finding affordable and
effective medicines, which is already a huge challenge, is increasingly
unreliable in Africa. Many countries have turned
to Indian pharmaceutical companies that produce generic copies of drugs designed
in the West at much lower prices. However, India tightened its patent laws in
2005, restricting its companies' ability to copy newer foreign drugs.
In South Africa,
some companies are already producing the treatments locally. Other sub-Saharan
African countries including Ghana,
Tanzania, the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Ethiopia
are working to start local production of the drugs as well.
According to the World
Health Organization, only 41% of Ugandans who need anti-retroviral therapy
receive the treatment.
Health Minister Stephen
Malinga said in regards to the new factory, "[Ugandans] will have access
to a regular supply of medication and also we hope it will be cheaper, because
we will be eliminating the element of transportation and manufacture in foreign
countries."
Leonard Okello, from aid
group Action Aid International, told the BBC that distributing the treatment will
be the biggest hurdle to overcome.
"The challenge is to
make sure that the production is followed by a good distribution system that
makes sure that the drug can reach all corners of the country."
AFJN is pleased with these
new developments and we hope it will have a positive effect in the fight on
HIV/AIDS. However, we will continue to keep an eye on the situation to be sure
that all things go well and that the production of these much needed
anti-retroviral drugs is followed up by a good distribution system to be sure
that as many people as possible are getting the life-saving treatment.
-Barbie Fischer
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