The first edition of the Algerian pharmaceutical industry fair “El Djazaïr Healthcare” opened on Tuesday, May 17, in Dakar, Senegal.
A show dedicated to the promotion of the Algerian pharmaceutical industry to which all Algerian pharmaceutical operators have been invited to participate, and whose objective is, according to the Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry, to allow them to “make know their products, their know-how and position themselves on the African market in terms of quality and competitive capacities”.
“We have come to demonstrate the scale and production capacity of Algeria in the pharmaceutical industry,” Nesrine Charikhi, communications officer at the Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry, told TSA on Wednesday.
The continental policy desired by Algeria
Present in Dakar, Lotfi Benbahmed, Minister of the Pharmaceutical Industry, supervised the opening of this show on Tuesday.
“The Minister was invited, on May 16, by the African Economic Commission of the United Nations to participate in a forum on the future of health and economic resilience. He had to present the Algerian experience”, specifies Ms. Charikhi.
According to her, Mr. Benbahmed pleaded for “the development of joint projects and co-development”.
“In the context of integration, and given that we are not too affected by malaria, we could, for example, produce medicines for the continent’s needs against this disease in Algeria, instead of going to buy them from China, with all that the pandemic has demonstrated, particularly in terms of the difficulties linked to the closure of borders and the price of freight. Medicines would be produced in Algeria according to the needs of the continent. This is part of a globalized and economically integrated approach for the continent,” she said.
The communication officer of the Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry explains the African policy desired by Algeria: “Ideally, we want drugs to be acquired within the continent. We try to plead so that the UNDP and the WHO when they acquire drugs and products, can do so inside Africa to give a dynamic to development”.
Ms. Charikhi explains that “currently, the central issue at the continental level is that of the African Medicines Agency (AMA)”
“The Minister pleaded for the need for its implementation and for Algeria to be able to host its headquarters. He put forward the various institutional, regulatory, and economic resources to claim to house the WADA headquarters,” she said.
She continues: “He encouraged other countries to join this agency. The more States adhere to this approach, the more effective WADA will be. We are still pleading and calling on States to ratify the convention to create the African Medicines Agency. WADA will breathe new life and facilitate exchanges and cooperation between countries. This will develop the African pharmaceutical industry”.
“Six contracts have already been signed”
While the show opened 24 hours ago, “six commercial contracts have already been signed” between Algerian operators and their counterparts from African countries, said the communication officer at the Ministry of Industry. pharmaceutical.
Contracts relating to product distribution, registration, and clinical trials. “Six Algerian companies have already signed commercial agreements. We even have an agreement for clinical trials. This is wonderful news,” she said.
Ms. Charikhi explains that the clinical trial contracts will enable Algeria “to move towards exporting services.”
“Clinical trials are a very important link in drug development, but it is a resource that allows us to export services in the pharmaceutical field,” she said.
The communication officer at the Ministry of the Pharmaceutical Industry wishes to emphasize that the El Djazair healthcare show “is not a media element or a stunt. “There are contracts, it’s effective,” she said.
Ms. Charikh says that “Algeria has donated half a million euros, in pharmaceutical products, in medical devices needed in Senegal”.
“The Minister (Mr. Benbahmed) pleads for an inclusive approach and a new paradigm in continental pharmaceutical management, but also for the installation of the African Medicines Agency (AMA)”, she added.
