Bamako, 14 April 2022 (TDI): The Humanwell Pharmaceutical in Mali, which has funds from the China-Africa Development Fund and a Chinese company reduced basic medicine prices by 40%. Both procure that raw materials are local and more than 95% of the employees are local people.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMANWELL PHARMACEUTICAL
The Humanwell Pharmaceutical is one of the flagship projects of Sino-Mali medical cooperation. The benefits of the Humanwell Pharmaceutical keep increasing every day and it has a positive impact on the population.
In 2015, the Humanwell Pharmaceutical started operations in Bamako; which is the first modern pharmaceutical factory with the highest construction standard in West Africa.
The former president of Mali, Ibrahim Keita, stated that the Pharmaceutical represented a benefit for the citizens. This was because it meant that the period when Mali was unable to produce medicines was coming to an end.
With the Humanwell Pharmaceutical’s localized production; the price of syrups and Large Volume Parenteral products on the Malian market has fallen by 30%. The Humanwell Pharmaceutical company has also set up an anti-malaria center with the Malian Ministry of Health; providing free treatment and nutritious food to local patients.
The establishment of the Humanwell Pharmaceutical did not only solve the localization of drug production but also actively promote the localization of the supply chain. They realized the local procurement of packaging materials such as cartons, labels, and syrup bottles.
The fund also attracted packaging material manufacturers to invest in Mali. Moreover, it is also important to mention the necessity to distribute medicine to Mali and neighboring countries. They also promote the development of Mali’s logistics industry to a certain extent.
THE OVERVIEW OF SINO-MALI MEDICAL COOPERATION
The success that the Humanwell Pharmaceutical has achieved today is based on stable Sino-Mali bilateral relations and several financial mechanisms. The China-Africa Public Health Cooperation Plan is one of the ten cooperation plans proposed at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2015. The program aims to support Chinese enterprises to carry out local drug production in Africa and improve access to medicines in Africa. The Humanwell Pharmaceutical is an implementation of this macro plan.
Sino-Mali medical cooperation has a long history. In June 2018; Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta held a grand ceremony at the Presidential Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chinese medical team dispatched to Mali.
Over the past half-century, China has supported the development of medicine in Mali by providing financial support, building local pharmaceutical factories, building local hospitals, sending medical teams, and donating medical facilities.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, Sino-Mali medical cooperation keeps moving forward. China has strongly supported Mali’s fight against the epidemic by providing it with many batches of supplies, the most recent of which was at the end of January when China donated a batch of new COVID-19 vaccines to Mali.
MEDICAL INDUSTRY AND HEALTH SECTOR IN MALl
Mali population has several problems. Those are poverty, malnutrition, epidemics, inadequate sanitation, and the lack of medical services. Mali’s SDG Index ranks 146 out of 165 countries with a score of 52.2. According to the data, Mali’s progress made in SDG3, “good health and well-being”, has been moderately improving overall. But in 12 sub-index with data in SDG3, 7 of them are stagnating. Mali still has a long way to turn the country’s health situation around.
Specifically speaking, in the Malian medical industry, before the operation of the Humanwell Pharmaceutical, things were even worse. With a weak industrial base and virtually zero medicine production; the country had to imports several products at a high cost. It led to low overall levels of drug use and frequent shortages of medical supplies and services.
But with local and international support, the country is making more and more progress in its pharmaceutical industry. According to the United Nations’ database on international trade, Mali’s exports of pharmaceutical products were US$8.59 Million in the year 2019, which shows the development of the Malian pharmaceutical industry. There is no doubt that the health sector and pharmaceutical industry in Mali will become better with the efforts and investment put in by the Mali government and international partners like China.
