Ronald Kalyango
9 March 2008
Kampala — GOVERNMENT has been asked to introduce a 10% tax on imported drugs to enable local pharmaceutical manufacturers to compete with foreign companies.
Nazeem Mohamed, the spokesperson of Uganda Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association, explained: "When the tax is introduced, it would not compel the patients to pay a higher prices for the drugs as claimed by different stakeholders, but rather would help the local manufactures to have a lion's share on the Ugandan market."
Nazeem said this last Thursday while handing over drugs worth sh1m to the organisers of Kidera medical outreach project. The free annual treatment event that takes place in Kamuli is organised by Rotary and Rotaract club of Kololo.
"We are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with foreign importers in the absence of a level paying field. Today 90% of the drugs are imported from China and India," he said.
Nazeem, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries (1996) Ltd said government needs to borrow a leaf from Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria governments which support the national drug-manufacturing sector by levying duties on imports of pharmaceuticals.
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