Abstract
Of the 15 key markets surveyed in BMI’s Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
Business Environment
Rankings, Bangladesh is placed in 14th position, and
can be found above Vietnam, the latter being judged
the least attractive
proposition for investment. Despite the country’s recent decline in the
current ratings,
we expect Bangladesh’s position to improve over the
medium term as a result of rising population
numbers, economic
improvements and the efforts made by domestic firms to expand both their
product
portfolios and overseas markets. Sales of prescription drugs and
over-the-counter (OTC) medications are
expected to grow from US$1bn to
US$2.07bn, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
15.68%.
Given that pneumonia is a leading cause of childhood mortality in
Bangladesh, health authorities recently
introduced the ‘Pentavalent
Combination Vaccine’ (or the DPT-Hib). The vaccine is a combination
vaccine for five childhood diseases – diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis,
Hepatitis B and Hib. It has the
capacity to prevent about a third of the
life-threatening cases of bacterial pneumonia and up to 80% of
probable
bacterial meningitis cases that occur each year. The vaccine, which now forms
part of the
country’s routine immunisation program, will be
administered to about 4mn children a year. Given that
about 25% of deaths
among children under the age of five are caused by pneumonia, the vaccine
is
expected to save approximately 20,000 lives a year in Bangladesh. The
Global Alliance for Vaccine and
Immunization is expected to spend more
than US$95mn procuring more than 27mn doses of the vaccine
over the course
of 2009 and 2010.
Elsewhere, in an effort to broaden the scope of the
Bangladesh’s export market, local pharmaceutical
manufacturers are
currently exploring the possibility of exporting quality medicines to the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, including Uzbekistan and
Kazakhstan. Both
countries currently import 90% of their medicines from
overseas markets. It is believed that
pharmaceutical products worth over
Tk100 crore could be exported to the CIS countries in the future as a
result of proper diplomatic relations being established, as well as by
enhancing the manpower available at
Bangladesh’s embassies within
CIS states.
With regard to the corporate sector, GE Healthcare, the
UK-based healthcare arm of the US
manufacturing conglomerate General
Electric Company announced in June 2009 that it is to introduce
three
low-cost and innovative ‘targeted technologies’ in Bangladesh in
an effort to deliver improved
healthcare to the poor. Under the terms of
the programme, entitled “Healthymagination”, three
costeffective
clinics will be set up in co-operation with Grameen
Healthcare Bangladesh, with the aim of
preventing deaths arising from
complications in childbirth and pregnancy.
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