Govt wants quality drugs from manufacturers

Ministry of health has asked manufacturers of drugs and medical equipment in Uganda to produce quality and affordable drugs if they are to benefit from government's procurement processes.

The call was made by the director general of health services, Dr. Anthony Mbonye during the 8th Annual Nutrition and Health Fair organized by the Uganda Manufacturer's Association (UMA) at Lugogo conference hall.

He was responding to an appeal by Abacus Pharma, one of the companies manufacturing drugs locally, who called on government to consider drugs made in Uganda in their procurement processes.

Mbonye explained that when the National Medical stores (NMS) is procuring drugs, they don't pay attention to the company but pay attention to the quality of drugs and cost.

"Therefore so long as a local company has quality drugs that NMS is looking for, they will buy them, so the manufacture should aim at producing quality at all times and offer relatively affordable prices," Mbonye advised.

Uganda imports drugs from countries like china, India, from companies that have been in existence for a long time, produced in large quantities, therefore are ready to offer some of their quality drugs at a relatively cheaper price.

"For the local manufacturer to benefit, they must aim at producing high quality so they are not out competed by drugs imported from international companies," said Mbonye.

These are likely to out compete the local manufacturer who is faced with challenges of high cost of production in terms of high energy costs, low skilled labor in the pharmaceutical industry and high costs of raw materials, added Mbonye.

"To ensure quality, they should work closely with NMS to know what type, quality and quantity of drugs needed, and also work with the National Drug Authority throughout their production processes to produce drugs that meet the standards set by NDA," Mbonye told UMA.

There are about 18 manufactures of drugs in Uganda and these include Quality Chemicals, Abacus Pharma, and Kampala Pharmaceuticals Industries (KPI) among others.

Some of the drugs made in Uganda include ARVs, anti-malarial, antibiotics, anti-diabetics, anti-inflammatories, infusions, analgesics, anti-allergic, and herbals, amongst others.