Ethiopia Plans to Cut Pharmaceutical drug Drug Import by half within “3-4 Years”

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia is planning to increase local pharmaceuticals production and cut its drug imports by more than a half in a the coming 4 years, its ministry of health said on Thursday.

East African nation spends more than a billion US dollars annually to meet 85% its pharmaceuticals drugs demand.

Health minister Dr. Lia Taddess said the government is pushing to reduce Ethiopia’s dependence on imported medicines through increasing local production.

The Minister said this a day after an Indian firm Glocare Pharma inaugurated its manufacturing plant with a capacity to produce 600mln tablets and 7mln caps of medicine per annum.

In a twitter post, Dr. Lia has congratulated the Glocare Pharma Manufacturing Plc for finally opening its production plant at Kilinto Industrial park.

“Kilinto IP is a site dedicated by the government solely for manufacturing of medical products to help substitute 50-60% of the pharmaceutical demand by locally produced pharmaceuticals in the coming 3 to 4 years,” said Dr. Lia.

The Minister said the Ministry of Health is also “working hard to create a better pharmaceutical industry ecosystem” for both existing and prospective investors.

The effort is part of a plan to make Ethiopia a pharmaceutical hub, according to the minister.

Glocare Pharma, the first standalone Indian investment in the pharma sector in Ethiopia, makes a range of pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, antidiabetics, cardiovascular medicines, antihistamines, analgesics, cough suppressants, vitamins and more in tablets, capsules and oral liquids, in compliance with cGMP requirements.

The Company will supply 80% of its pharmaciticula productions to the local market and import the remaining 20%.