Ethiopia’s health ministry said Friday it has been taking various measures to ensure the access to and affordability of quality essential medicines across the country.
Speaking at a medical experts gathering, Health Minister Kesetebirhan Admasu said the country has launched a 10-year master plan to develop local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity to increase the access to locally manufactured, quality-assured medicine.
Admasu said the plan also aims to develop the manufacturing capacity of local factories, which currently produce only 20 percent of essential medicines.
The plan has been prepared on the lessons learnt in the implementation of the first five-year growth and transformation plan (GTP) in the sector, said the Minister.
Ethiopia’s GTP I, which ends this year, had the target of securing 20 million U.S. dollars by exporting locally-manufactured pharmaceutical products.
The minister also revealed that a project management team would be set up under the ministry of industry to follow up and evaluate the progress on the implementation of the plan. Enditem
