Kenya Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q3 2009

BMI calculates Kenya's pharmaceutical expenditure to have been KES15.85bn (US$229mn) in 2008. By 2013, we expect the total amount spent on prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to have reached a value of KES29.89bn (US$395mn) equating to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.53%. However, the country's underdeveloped healthcare system has meant that drug expenditure has fallen from 0.87% of GDP in 2004 to just 0.64% of GDP in 2008. BMI calculates that by 2013 drug expenditure will decline further, to just 0.54% of GDP.

In BMI's Business Environment Rankings for Q309, Kenya has remained in 15th place in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, above Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Additionally, Kenya's overall pharmaceutical rating has increased from 30.8 to 32.2. In Q209, the country's pharmaceutical rating had dropped to 30.8 from the Q109 rating of 34.0, therefore the Q309 increase is a positive change.

In early March 2009, the Kenyan government dissolved the board of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), following a scandal that involved the mismanagement of funds totalling KES476mn (US$6mn). BMI believes that this scandal will not be viewed positively by KEMRI's collaborators, especially as this is not the first time a board member has been dismissed over financial issues. The institute has World Health Organization (WHO) accreditation and has global partnerships with bodies such as the British Medical Research Council.

In February 2009, it was revealed that the political violence that broke out in early 2008 following a disputed election had a negative effect on the country's polio immunisation campaign, which declined from 100% coverage down to 60% coverage. This is far below the 80% recommended by the WHO.

Shanaz Shariff, Director of Public Health at the Kenyan Health Ministry, said the government was planning to conduct an immunisation campaign in northern Kenya immediately, targeting all children under the age of 5. The project is expected to cost KES5mn (US$63,000) and aims to immunise 96,000 children.

In March 2009, the Karel Styblo Award was presented to Public Health and Sanitation PS Mark Bor in recognition of Kenya's efforts to fight and control the spread of tuberculosis. Mr Bor said that the award was to mark Kenya achieving the WHO's target of a 70% TB case detection rate and 85% treatment success rate. Kenya ranks number 13 out of the 22 TB high-burden countries in the world In the same month, it was revealed that poor Kenyans may be able to access the most effective malaria drugs at KES70 per dose - down from KES500 - before the end of the year. The medicines will be provided under a highly subsidised programme that aims to ensure anti-malarial drugs are available at all private pharmacies as well as local kiosks.