Local Production of Medicines Would Cut Dangerous Imports

Almost all of the pharmaceuticals available in Tajikistan are imported and many are substandard or out of date. NBCentralAsia experts say both the health risks and the cost to the consumer could be lowered by developing local production.



In the first half of this year, Tajik customs officers stopped two attempts to bring large consignments of inferior-quality medicines into the country, according to an Avesta news agency report on July 19.



Mahmadali Davlatov, deputy director of the government’s pharmaceuticals supervisory agency, told NBCentralAsia that recent testing of products on sale showed that four per cent did not meet quality standards. As a result of the these checks, around four tons of pharmaceuticals have been destroyed in the first half of this year.



Just over two per cent of all drugs in Tajikistan did not meet minimum standards last year and 11.5 tons were destroyed.



NBCentralAsia experts say that while the government is applying effective measures to protect people from substandard drugs, Tajikistan needs a pharmaceuticals industry of its own to improve the quality of drugs and reduce the cost.



Davlatov said a number of some foreign companies had expressed an interest in setting up joint drug manufacturing companies and negotiations are currently under way with Indian, Chinese and Russian companies. The idea would be to export some of the pharmaceuticals produced to neighbouring states.



Tajikistan produces just one per cent of the medicines sold in the country, but the demand may not be large enough to warrant setting up a pharmaceuticals production company.



Last year, the government issued a decree exempting some types of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment from value-added tax and customs duty in an attempt to curb smuggling. This led to a fourfoul increase in the amount of medicines imported legally, and a reduction in price of between ten and 15 per cent.



Also in 2006, the government set up a distribution centre to dispatch pharmaceuticals to state-run medical institutions.



Ashurmad Marufov, head pharmacologist at the health ministry, says most imported drugs come from Russia, Ukraine, India and Hungary. He fears that Tajikistan does not have enough trained professionals, raw materials and packaging to produce affordable drugs.



But Yuldosh Sultonov, general director of the Anispharm drugs company, believes pharmaceuticals manufacturing could be profitable if it were not obstructed by the ever-present bureaucracy.



He said around 10,000 different species of medicinal herbs grow in Tajikistan that could be used to make 500 to 600 types of medicine including vitamins, antibiotics and various solutions.



It would much cheaper for Tajikistan to make its own pharmaceuticals, he said, adding that this would reduce the risk posed by low-quality imports.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)