NAIROBI, Kenya: June 24 (Xinhua) — Leading pharmaceutical giants have pledged to scale up manufacture and supply of anti-epilepsy drugs to address a huge treatment gap among low income Kenyans affected by the condition.
Epilepsy has become a national health crisis in Kenya where an estimated 1 million people suffer from this neurological disorder yet access to affordable drugs to manage the disease is still a mirage.
“Effective treatment for epilepsy is available in the market. We have partnered with other stakeholders to combat the disease through supply of efficacious drugs at a preferential price,” Kangethe Ngure, the Managing Director, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Sanofi told Xinhua in an interview on Saturday in Nairobi.
Sanofi, a French Pharmaceutical giant, is a leading manufacturer and supplier of anti epileptic drugs in the East Africa region where the disease is a major public health hazard.
“We are offering treatment to epileptics at an affordable price. In Kenya, we offer very efficacious drugs at a price affordable to ordinary citizens,” Ngure added.
According to Ngure, a first line anti-epilepsy dosage costs 2.5 U.S. dollars.Ngure stressed that Sanofi is committed to universal access to epilepsy drugs in Kenya and has financed initiatives to achieve that goal.
“To bridge the treatment gap, we have invested in research and development to manufacture effective anti epilepsy drugs. Epilepsy treatment should not be a preserve for the rich, we have taken up the distribution of this products as part of our corporate social responsibility,” Ngure remarked.
He revealed that Sanofi has partnered with Kenya Association for the Welfare of People with Epilepsy (KAWE), to expand supply of epilepsy drugs in all Kenyan counties. Bernard Oduor, the Manager, Access to Medicines at Sanofi, said that a strong public-private partnership model has ensured greater access to anti-epilepsy drugs to patients who were previously denied due to cost.
“We have partnered with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation to develop the national treatment guidelines for epilepsy,” Oduor said.
Kenyan pharmaceutical companies have ventured into manufacturing of anti-epilepsy drugs to meet rising demand. Nedadur Ravichadran, the Business Development Manager, Universal Corporation, a Kenyan Pharmaceutical Company, said that a lucrative market for epilepsy drugs has sustained their operations in Kenya.
“We manufacture two epilepsy drugs, Neuroba and Neurotrol, and export them to the entire East Africa region. Demand for these drugs is high in Rwanda and Burundi,” Ravichadran told Xinhua.
He revealed that Universal Corporation is registering anti epilepsy drugs in other African countries where demand is growing. Universal Corporation has employed 800 Kenyans in its manufacturing plant outside Nairobi and intends to expand invest in more factories as demand for drugs to treat epilepsy and other non communicable diseases surge.
“Manufacture of anti-epilepsy drugs is a sustainable business,” Ravichadran said. Universal Corporation is competing with multinational giants including Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis in the manufacture and distribution of epilepsy drugs in Kenya. (Xinhua)
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