Ethiopia debuts 10-year strategy and plan to increase access to medicines

Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, last week launched an ambitious 10-year national strategy and plan of action to develop local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in order to increase access to locally manufactured, quality-assured, medicines.

The World Health Organization, in collaboration with the European Union Commission and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provided technical assistance to the government of Ethiopia in the development of this strategy, the first of its kind in the country. The launch took place at a high-level event organized in Addis Ababa, during the third Financing for Development Conference.

Tsige Gebremariam, a professor at Addis Ababa University School of Pharmacy, while presenting an overview of the National Strategy and Plan of Action for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Development in Ethiopia (2015-2025) pointed out the seven key objectives of this ambitious plan.