20100120
allafrica

Nairobi — Kenyans could soon access affordable anti-retroviral drugs made in Uganda. And Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has invited Kenya to buy shares in a company -- the only one in Africa -- that manufactures the drugs that control the effects of HIV.

Uganda opened Quality Chemicals, a joint venture with Indian drug maker Cipla, last year. President Museveni extended the invitation to Kenya, which has been suffering from high HIV/Aids prevalence in recent years.
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Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka on Monday visited the plant and praised the technology transfer taking place at the complex. He said he would advise the relevant health authorities back home to consider sourcing ARVs from the firm.

The plant that was established at a cost of Sh4 billion, produces 100 million tablets of ARVs, mainly the Duovir-n brand, every month. It also produces the anti-malarial drug Lumatern.

Uganda's Health minister Richard Nduhura said his country took the decision to manufacture generic ARVs after India, the traditional makers of generic drugs, ratified the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Accord under the World Trade Organisation.

Mr Nduhura said that what Africa needed now was to produce its own low-cost medicines, which were safe and effective, without relying on outside help.

And in a meeting with members of the Ugandan business community, Mr Musyoka heard the challenges the traders faced in doing business with Kenya.

The Uganda Manufacturers Association cited inordinate delays in the clearing of their goods at the port of Mombasa and damages to goods during handling and transportation. The association also asked the Kenyan government to expedite compensation for goods lost during the 2007 post-election violence.

Later in a meeting the management of Rift Valley Railways, led by chairman Brown Ondego, Mr Musyoka expressed concern that at a time when the world was embracing high speed rail transport, East Africa was still saddled with a dilapidated system.