French Industry Backs African Reforms

Around 60% of the national health budgets of Africa's 14 Francophone nations goes to the purchase of medicines, compared with 20% in Europe, yet African families spend an average of 50% of their budgets on drugs, a meeting of the Francophone states' drug authorities and the French drug industry association, the SNIP, has heard.

The meeting, which took place in Abidjian this summer, heard that while the local drug market seemed to have regained some assurance after the regional franc's devaluation in January 1994, scarcely 20% of the states' people have access to medicines. Moreover, the black market is growing, in some states now accounting for around 30% of total consumption. It was important, said Ivory Coast Health Minister Kakou Guikahue, to increase spending on health and to reduce that part of it relating to drugs by a better use of the funds allocated to the drug sector, reports Health Horizons, the magazine of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations.

Pierre Kahn, president of the SNIP's Africa-Asia Commission, said that those providing funding must invest more in promoting rational use of drugs in Africa, particularly by supporting information campaigns on the dangers of the black market and by training staff in the areas of drug quality and control; such inspection services are practically non-existent. The SNIP was willing to share its experience and knowledge to promote public information and the training of health personnel in the rational use of drugs, he said.