High cost of key drug in Africa raises eyebrows

A lobby group has raised the alarm after learning that an essential drug used in treating a wide range of diseases is more expensive in Africa than in the rest of the world.

Ciprofloxacin, which is classified by the World Health Organisation as an essential medicine, is widely used in treating diarrhoeal diseases, sexually transmitted infections and opportunistic infections in people living with Aids.

Due to the high cost, many patients on the continent could not access the drug. “It is outrageous that on a continent where poverty locks many out of access to medicines, the price of an essential antibiotic used to treat a wide range of infections is unaffordable to many, which spells suffering and even death for those too poor to pay,” said Mr Gichinga Ndirangu, the regional coordinator of Health Action International Africa (HAIA).

According to the global pill price survey carried out in 93 countries worldwide, 22 of them in Africa, the cost of a course of treatment with ciprofloxacin on the continent was found to be higher than in other regions.

In Africa, the average price for the originator brand (Sh3,402) was higher than in South East Asia (Sh1,309), the Eastern Mediterranean region (Sh2,720) and the European region (Sh3,272).

HAIA urged African governments to examine access to affordable essential medicines and pass policies that ensure patients benefit from lower prices.