The Minister of Public Health (Minsanté), promoters of national pharmaceutical companies demanded government assistance to help them increase their market share. Malachie Manaouda reassured them by indicating that this request is being considered at the moment. “Count on us to increase the size of the market ,” the government member told his interlocutors.
According to figures provided by local developers, their brands represent less than 2% of the national market, which is worth around 500 billion FCFA. These promoters hope to convince Minsanté to help them reach the 30% market share mark. Everything suggests that the government thinks this objective is very ambitious. “We will move gradually to guarantee patient safety through quality medicines at a lower cost ,” warned Malachie Manaouda this week.
Minsanté, however, did not give the objective which it considers more appropriate to achieve in the short term. He also refrained, for the moment, from dwelling on the mechanisms to be put in place to satisfy local promoters. A few months ago, while touring pharmaceutical companies in the city of Douala, Malachie Manaouda suggested that one of the possible solutions is to integrate local products into public procurement. The only downside is that the minister assures that he will be finicky when ensuring the quality of these products, even if he assures that we must in fact trust local brands.
Michelangelo Nga