USA funding for pharmaceutical supply chain survey in Egypt

Egypt has received a grant of over half a million dollars from the USA that will fund a study on how to decrease the price of pharmaceuticals and increase their availability in the local market, reports Zawya, Daily News Egypt. US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey and Kamal Sabra, Assistant Minister of Health for pharmaceutical affairs, recently signed a cooperative agreement for the $557,704 grant.

The grant, signed by Ms Scobey on behalf of the US Trade Development Agency (USTDA), will fund a feasibility study on how to enhance Egypt's pharmaceuticals supply chain to meet growing needs. Egypt's health care sector is expecting growth rates of 10 percent annually for the next five years.

According to a statement by the US Department of State, the study focuses on possibilities for data collection, inventory management and process standardization, and is "an integral part of the Ministry's health reform effort to provide cost-effective and improved services to the public." Expanding the capabilities of the current supply chain will lead to lower costs and a greater variety of pharmaceuticals available to patients, the statement read. The project will fund two pilot projects in two governorates to test key findings of the study.