Friday, 15 July 2016｜Source：CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCEFOR IMPORT&EXPORT OF MEDICINES &HEALTH PRODUCTS｜Author：
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) China Office signed a cooperation agreement with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products(CCCMHPIE) in Shanghai China, aiming to further effect the China-Africa health collaboration, especially in terms of local production of pharmaceuticals and health commodities in Africa.
The agreement was signed by Dr. Catherine Sozi, the Country Director of UNAIDS China Office, andDr. Xu Ming, Vice President of CCCMHPIE, at the press release conference of the 2015 Top 100 Pharmaceutical Enterprises of Internationalization held in Shanghai.
The two-year agreement contains a wide range of cooperation items, including developing the online pharmaceutical market information platform (www.healthcac.com), convening multiple stakeholders to fulfil thegoals set at the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Johannesburg, and supporting the 2016 China-Africa Health Roundtable, as well as linking the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) to regulatory authorities in Africa.
14% of the global population is African, up till now Africans accounts for a quarter of the global disease burden. While all Governments have signed on for the WHO Universal Health Coverage call and more recently, the UNAIDS End of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, access to quality medicines and health commodities remains a significant challenge,even though, Africa is one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions.
In addition, the value of Africa's Pharmaindustry has risen significantly, from $4.7 billion in 2003 to $20.8 billion in 2013. These totals include patented and generics prescription drugs and over the counter medicines. That’s good news for pharma companies seeking new sources of growth and for patients, who have gained access to medicines previously unavailable on the continent.
In October 2015, the UNAIDS China Office, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and CCCMHPIE worked hand in hand and organized an initiative field visiting of Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer delegation to Ethiopia and Kenya. After the visiting, the three organizations cooperated in establishment of an online pharmaceutical market information platform to open the window for both China and Africa to achieve information exchange and deeper cooperation in the long run.
“The UNAIDS will collaborate with CCCMHPIE to exchange information and share relevant resourcesin China-Africa health collaboration,” said Dr. Catherine Sozi, CountryDirector of UNAIDS China, “We are committed to work with CCCMHPIE to build the bridge between China and Africa in the fields of communication, technology transfer, and further cooperation, in the view that China and Africa could thus build stronger capacities in fighting against AIDS, and help ‘fast-track’ the global AIDS response, and therefore end the epidemic by 2030.”
