EXAMPLES OF THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIA
AS THE
“PHARMACY FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD”
QUICK OVERVIEW:
• India is the main
supplier of essential medicines for developing countries.
• 67 % of medicines
exports from India go to developing countries.
• Main procurement
agencies for developing countries’ health programmes purchase their
medicines in India,
where there are quality products and low prices.
• Approx. 50% of the
essential medicines that UNICEF distributes in developing countries
come from India
• 75-80% of all
medicines distributed by the International Dispensary Association (IDA) to
developing countries
are manufactured in India. (IDA is a medical supplier operating on a
not-for-profit basis
for distribution of essential medicines to developing countries.)
• In Zimbabwe, 75% of
tenders for medicines for all public sector health facilities come from
Indian manufacturers
• The state procurement
agency in Lesotho, NDSO, states it buys nearly 95% of all ARVs
from India.
Antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) for AIDS treatment:
India is the world’s
primary source of affordable ARVs, as it is one of the few countries with the apacity
to produce these newer medicines as generics. Therefore, all AIDS programmes
use India as their main source of products.
• 80% of ARVs MSF uses
are purchased in India and are distributed in treatment projects in
over 30 countries.
• Globally, 70% of the
treatment for patients in 87 developing countries, purchased by
UNICEF, IDA, the Global
Fund (GFATM) and the Clinton Foundation since July 2005
has come from Indian
suppliers.
• PEPFAR, the US
President’s AIDS initiative also purchases ARVs from India for
distribution in
developing countries, thus resulting in cost-savings up to 90%.
• 91% of the generic
ARVs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for PEPFAR
are from India.
• 90% of the ARVs used
in Zimbabwe’s national treatment programme come from India.
Raw materials:
In addition, raw
materials are exported from India to other countries for local production of
affordable medicines.
This has been crucial to enabling national AIDS programmes, such as
those in Brazil or
Thailand, to provide universal free access to ARVs.
IN DETAIL:
India is the main
supplier of essential medicines for developing countries. This applies not only
to AIDS medicines, but to medicines to treat other diseases, as well. India is
the world’s leading supplier of inexpensive generic medicines, with
approximately 67% of medicines exports going to developing countries.
1) International procurement agencies
The main procurement agencies for health programmes in
developing countries, as well as national procurement agencies, purchase their
medicines in India, where quality products can be purchased at low prices.
MSF:
• 40% of the money MSF
spends on oral medicines is used to buy drugs from India (if injectables are
included, the average lies at 26,5%).
UNICEF:
• India ranks second on
the list of suppliers for UNICEF programmes (see figure 1)
• On medicines, India has a considerable lead over
all countries below it on the list, and
Belgium only ranks first because of vaccines (e.g.
combination vaccines are not yet being
produced in India).
• If vaccines are
excluded, India is the source of approx. 50% of the essential medicines UNICEF
distributes in developing countries.
Figure 1:
Top 20 supplier countries for UNICEF2
IDA (International Dispensary
Association)
• 75-80% of all medicines
distributed by IDA to developing countries are manufactured in India (IDA is a
medical supplier operating on a not-for-profit basis for distribution of
essential medicines to developing countries.)
2) National supply
stores for public/non profit sector:
Zimbabwe
•
The
National Pharmaceutical Company, Natpharm, (formerly Governmental Central
Stores), states 75% of tenders for supply to national health facilities are won
by Indian manufacturers.
3)
Antiretrovirals – ARVs
India is the world’s
primary source of affordable ARVs, as it is one of the few countries with the capacity
to produce these newer medicines as generics. Therefore, all AIDS programmes
use India as their main source of products.
• 80% of ARVs MSF uses
are purchased in India and are distributed in treatment projects in
more than 30 countries.
• Globally, 70% or more
of the antiretroviral pills currently used in developing countries to treat
nearly two million people are manufactured by generic suppliers in India.
• PEPFAR, the US
President’s AIDS initiative also purchases ARVs from India for distribution in
developing countries. « In every case generic prices present an opportunity for
cost savings; in some cases, the branded price per pack of a drug is up to 11
times the cost of the approved generic version”
• 91% of the generic
ARVs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for PEPFAR
are from India.
•
90% of the ARVs used in Zimbabwe’s national treatment programme come from
India.
• The state procurement
agency in Lesotho, NDSO, states it buys nearly 95% of all ARVs
from India.
4) Active
Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)
Raw materials from
India are also exported to other countries for production of affordable medicines.
This has been key in the success of national AIDS programmes’ ability to
provide universal free access to ARVs.
As an example, generic
production of medicines in Brazil is heavily dependent on APIs purchased from
India. At the third meeting of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights,
Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH)6, Brazil stated: “Brazil is concerned
whether the application of TRIPS in India and China may affect access to APIs,
and thus their treatment programme.”
The same is true for
Thailand, where the Government Pharmaceutical Organization of Thailand “gets
90% of its raw materials for ARV production from India. More specifically, the
Thai Public Health Ministry has clearly stated that their ambitious
antiretroviral treatment programme would not exist without generic drugs, which
would not have been possible without Indian API supply”
