Dr Ouma Oluga, Principal Secretary for Medical Services, Nick Lagunowich, Global President Emerging Markets, Pfizer and Feleke Assefa, the Commercial Counsellor at the US Embassy.
Kenya has joined a programme by drugs manufacturer Pfizer to access cheaper medicines from the company.
The Ministry of Health and
Pfizer signed the pack for Kenya to join ‘Accord for healthier world’ to enable the country access Pfizer medicines and vaccines at not-for-profit basis.
Kenya becomes the 14th eligible country to join the agreement, which is posited to
support health systems capability and capacity building for long-term impact.
Speaking during the event, Dr Ouma Oluga, Principal Secretary
for Medical Services, hailed the agreement as timely as it will boost the
country’s agenda on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“This partnership with Pfizer under the Accord for a
Healthier World is a timely agenda since it will boost our national agenda for
UHC. It will expand access to quality life saving medicines and vaccines for
millions of Kenyans particularly in underserved areas,” he said.
Dr Oluga further praised the agreement because it was going
to reduce the cost of 140 products in the country.
“140 products across three key areas which are cancer, chronic
diseases like diabetes and hypertension, and infectious diseases will be
accessed at a cheaper price. This will also help solve the problem of the many
antibiotics which are now getting resistant. We are now going to get access to
antibiotics that are not resistant at a cost that is 60 per cent less than the market
price across public and private hospitals,” the PS said.
Nick Lagunowich, Global President Emerging Markets, Pfizer
reiterated that income level should not be a determinant of the quality of care
a person should receive.
“Everyone, no matter where they live or their income level,
should have access to the medicines and vaccines they need. Nevertheless, tremendous
health equity gap exists that determines who can access those innovations and
who cannot,” he said.
The accord further provides Kenya Medical Supplies Agency
(KEMSA) with the rights to procure Pfizer’s full portfolio of medicines
and vaccines both current and future products, priced on a not-for-profit
basis to support national healthcare goals.
This includes a portfolio of
hundreds of essential, medicines and vaccines – around 40 per cent of which are in the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of essential medicines.