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Cheap generics from India set for South Africa
John Battersby. 24 October 2003. The Star. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Cheap generic versions of anti-retroviral drugs and other medicines from India may soon be on their way to South Africa.
Prices could undercut even the most discounted patented equivalents of the drugs.
This follows President Mbeki's visit to India last week. Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad said Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang had held talks with her Indian counterpart on closer links and co-operation with Indian pharmaceutical companies.
Pahad said it was true that Indian pharmaceutical firms produced a range of medicines at prices which were much cheaper than anywhere else in the world.
He said Tshabalala-Msimang had fallen ill while in India and had gone to see a doctor, who had prescribed antibiotics. She was astounded to discover that the drugs cost her the equivalent of R20 - far cheaper than anywhere else in the world.
But Pahad cautioned that no drugs could be imported until the Medicines Control Council (MCC) had certified them as safe. "It is not so easy to enter South Africa's pharmaceutical markets," said Pahad.
"The drugs must first be registered by the MCC, and only then can they be marketed here." He added that until relatively recently, the South African market had been controlled by a monopoly.
The court case between South Africa and the major pharmaceutical companies, in which they had backed down on their stand against generic medicines, had changed the situation substantially. "But we will not compromise on the standards that the MCC sets," Pahad said.
It is understood that one of the reasons for the delay and caution exercised by the government in devising its strategy on rolling out anti-retrovirals is to ensure the cheapest possible source of the drugs. This could well prove to be the Indian pharmaceutical industry.
"But once the MCC registers the drugs, you could well find a wide variety of Indian medicines in South Africa," he said. |
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