Deliberation held on low performance by local pharmaceutical manufacturers

PFSA organized a deliberation session with pharmaceutical manufacturers on their low performance over the past six months at the Ethiopia hotel in Addis Ababa on February…, 2018.

The Agency organized the forum in collaboration with the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipments Manufacturing Industries Sectoral Association.

In his opening speech, the Agency’s Deputy Director General for Operation, Yemanebirhan Tadesse stated that the forum would be used to evaluate performance and the challenges over the past six months along with identifying the remedial path to the challenges for the upcoming six months.

The local pharmaceutical manufacturers raised the fact that the government could not provide them with foreign currency for more than a year and the surge in the price of raw materials following the devaluation as the reasons behind their inability to supply pharmaceuticals in line with the quoted price in their contract with the Agency.

The local manufacturers urged the Agency to take these things into consideration, reaffirming their capacity to manufacture and supply the pharmaceuticals in the coming months provided the foreign currency problem is solved soon.

The local manufacturers also called for the participation of banks, the Ministry of Trade and other stakeholders in upcoming deliberation forums as it could help clarify queries by all involved.

President of the local pharmaceuticals manufacturers association, Yonas Gebretsadik, called for close working relations between stakeholders and reiterated the association’s determination to improve the manufacturing and supply of pharmaceuticals up to end of the fiscal year.

Going forward, participants agreed to focus on pharmaceuticals with high demand in the society and bolster support among themselves.