Abstract
BMI calculates Kenya' s pharmaceutical expenditure to have been KES15.85bn
(US$229mn) in 2008. By
2013, we expect the total amount spent on
prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to have
reached a value
of KES29.89bn (US$395mn) equating to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of
13.53%. However, the country' s underdeveloped healthcare system has
meant that drug expenditure has
fallen from 0.87% of GDP in 2004 to just
0.64% of GDP in 2008. BMI calculates that by 2013 drug
expenditure will
decline further, to just 0.54% of GDP.
In BMI' s Business Environment
Rankings for Q309, Kenya has remained in 15th place in the Middle
East and
Africa (MEA) region, above Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Additionally, Kenya' s
overall
pharmaceutical rating has increased from 30.8 to 32.2. In Q209,
the country' s pharmaceutical rating had
dropped to 30.8 from the Q109
rating of 34.0, therefore the Q309 increase is a positive change.
In early
March 2009, the Kenyan government dissolved the board of the Kenya Medical
Research
Institute (KEMRI), following a scandal that involved the
mismanagement of funds totalling KES476mn
(US$6mn). BMI believes that this
scandal will not be viewed positively by KEMRI' s collaborators,
especially
as this is not the first time a board member has been dismissed over financial
issues. The
institute has World Health Organization (WHO) accreditation
and has global partnerships with bodies
such as the British Medical
Research Council.
In February 2009, it was revealed that the political
violence that broke out in early 2008 following a
disputed election had a
negative effect on the country' s polio immunisation campaign, which
declined
from 100% coverage down to 60% coverage. This is far below the
80% recommended by the WHO.
Shanaz Shariff, Director of Public Health at
the Kenyan Health Ministry, said the government was
planning to conduct an
immunisation campaign in northern Kenya immediately, targeting all
children
under the age of 5. The project is expected to cost KES5mn
(US$63,000) and aims to immunise 96,000
children.
In March 2009, the
Karel Styblo Award was presented to Public Health and Sanitation PS Mark Bor
in
recognition of Kenya' s efforts to fight and control the spread of
tuberculosis. Mr Bor said that the award
was to mark Kenya achieving the
WHO' s target of a 70% TB case detection rate and 85% treatment
success
rate. Kenya ranks number 13 out of the 22 TB high-burden countries in the
world
In the same month, it was revealed that poor Kenyans may be able to
access the most effective malaria
drugs at KES70 per dose - down from
KES500 - before the end of the year. The medicines will be
provided under
a highly subsidised programme that aims to ensure anti-malarial drugs are
available at all
private pharmacies as well as local kiosks.
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