Pharm Access Africa Ltd.

Pharma / Medical

Nairobi, Kenya

Pharm Access Africa Limited (PAAL) is a healthcare organization linking private sector initiative to those of donor organizations to enhance healthcare to communities. PAAL was set up in early 2001 with the object of increasing access to healthcare in the Anglophone and Francophone countries of Eastern and Central Africa. In 2001, health expenditure per capita in Kenya was US$29. The figure was US$14 for Uganda, US$12 for Tanzania and US$3 for Ethiopia compared to the global figure of US$500.

Access to healthcare is very limited - with over 50 per cent of populations having no access to healthcare whatsoever. With close to 65 percent of those living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and all of them being in the most active and economically productive years of their lives, HIV/AIDS will put further pressure on these impoverished economies.

All the health sector and economic gains have been eroded in the last decade. According to a report presented to the British Parliamentarians and The Royal African Society on May 20th 2004, 'The disease depresses sub-Saharan GDP rate by 0.8 percentage points. In the worst hit countries, where more than one-fifth of the adults have HIV, the burden is 2.6 points'. PAAL started off with offering consultancy services on accelerated access programs to one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and their associates in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sales and Marketing consultancies along with assistance in regulatory affairs are offered to a number of local and to some international companies. Pharm Access Africa Limited supports DART study on anti-retroviral therapy at The Joint Clinical Resaerch Centre in Kampala, Virus Research Institute, Entebbe and The University of Zimbabwe, Harare.

This is in collaboration with The Imperial College London and The Medical Research Council of Great Britain. Pharm Access Africa Limited works closely with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, HIV-AIDS Business Council, African Medical Research Foundation, Global Health International, National Organization of Peer Educators, Touch Africa- Michael Kijana Wamalwa Foundation, National Museums of Kenya and I Choose Life.

Healthcare in Africa

As a (semi-) public good, healthcare requires large government intervention. However, many African countries suffer from limited state capabilities and poor institutions. As a result, many people turn to the private sector and, since insurance is not available for most, pay for healthcare out-of-pocket.

Despite its important role, the private sector is often weakly regulated and highly fragmented. Due to the high investment risk it has limited or no access to the capital required for quality improvement and expansion of its services. And low quality in the clinics means low trust among patients. Another reason for few insured patients. The high proportion of out-of-pocket spending and the lack of trust in healthcare provision leads to low and unpredictable income for healthcare providers. This limits their options for investing in the quality, scope and scale of their services even further.