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Zimbabwe Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q1 2008Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Mar. 11, 2008 - 64 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractThe struggling Zimbabwean economy, hyperinflation and the isolationist and internationally unacceptablegovernment policy will continue to stifle recovery of the country’s once relatively buoyantpharmaceutical market. Most recently, the lack of foreign currency - necessary for the purchase of activepharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from abroad - has prompted the local pharmaceutical industryrepresentatives to call on the government for assistance. While some domestic producers have respectableproduction facilities, the country is 90%-reliant on imported APIs.In the meantime, the cost of essential drugs has sky-rocketed as the country's economic crisis continues toworsen. The increased trend for pharmacies to import finished drugs using foreign currency sourced fromthe parallel market has resulted in most of the population - including the people eligible for medical aidschemes - now having no access to essential drugs. BMI expects another year of negative real GDPgrowth in 2008, with domestic investment remaining non-existent. Those international companies stilloperating in Zimbabwe have already written-off their investments, but should these be pushed to cedemajority control, as the government plans, they will simply leave the country. With no improvement in sight, by the end of 2012, the country’s pharmaceutical market is forecast to fallto US$4.3mn, from an estimated US$4.5mn in 2007. Rampant counterfeiting, difficult political andeconomic environments and the biased regulatory regime will continue to render imports minimal, as willthe virtual collapse of the official healthcare system. On the other hand, charity and other internationalefforts, such as donations of essential medicines for the treatment of prevalent infectious disease in thecountry will continue to distort the real figures. Increasingly, traditional medicines and alternativetreatments will become the only options for the bulk of the population on low incomes. The HIV/AIDSepidemic is slowly coming under control, although about 18% of the total population is infected.Given the above issues, Zimbabwe was once again ranked last in BMI’s adjusted Business EnvironmentRankings for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, with its score but a fraction of the scores receivedby leading markets. Endemic corruption both in the health service and among government officials hasalso helped create a burgeoning black market - with at least 80% of total economic activity now thoughtto be informal - and the government has been criticised for doing little to change the situation, as well asfor measures preventing positive changes. As a result, local companies are looking abroad for revenue, although the need to import raw materialsrenders even this proposition difficult. CAPS Holding and Five Plus Pharmaceuticals are the latestfirms aiming to penetrate other African markets in a bid to avoid dire situation at home. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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