The World Health Organization (WHO)has urged African countries to develop production of essential medicines, including anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).

This call is contained in a report of the WHO Regional Office for Africa, presented to the 55th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, which is taking place in Maputo on August 22-26.

The report said that 90 percent of medicines used in the African region are imported, and that low-income countries account for 2.6 percent of the total world production of essential medicines.

Therefore, the WHO has urged African governments to put in place economically-viable production capacities with a view to producing these essential medicines, and reverse Africa's declining share in world production of the commodities.

According to the report, only 8 percent of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the African region have access to ARVs. The situation is all the more serious since the cost of ARVs and other medicines is generally high.

Apart from competition, African countries are exposed to other problems that considerably limit production capacity. These include the small size of markets, inadequate budget for the health sector, high expenditures on pharmaceutical produces, and the inefficiency of the pharmaceutical regulation systems and supply mechanisms.

The WHO also urged the countries in the region to take advantage of NEPAD, which offers opportunities for improvement of production capacities, extension of inter-country cooperation and promotion of intra-regional marketing of pharmaceutical products.

The adoption of an efficient pharmaceutical regulation, promotion of training in good manufacturing practices, and partnership between the public and private sectors are other measures the governments of the countries in the region should encourage, the document said.

Source: Xinhua