Global Pharmaceuticals and East Africa

This chapter traces the shift in the pharmaceutical markets in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from markets dominated by originator (brand-name) drugs produced by western companies to markets dominated by generic drugs produced in the global South, most prominently, in India. The rise of Indian exports was not simply a consequence of conditions in India, as it is often suggested. In East Africa, it was also a consequence of market liberalization imposed through Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) on the three countries in the 1980s and 1990s. Specifically, the removal of foreign exchange restrictions—combined with inadequate regulation of the pharmaceutical market—allowed an unmonitored entry of drugs into the private market. The chapter then describes the ongoing efforts by multinational pharmaceutical companies to slow down that shift—especially by strengthening intellectual property rights. It also examines why reports on the prevalence of Chinese drugs in East Africa are greatly exaggerated.