Kenya: Novartis initiative to significantly reduce cost of cancer & diabetes drugs
"Cancer, diabetes drugs lowered to Sh100 monthly from December"
Patients suffering from breast cancer, diabetes and heart diseases will buy drugs at Sh103 ($1) a month in a programme launched by pharmaceutical giant Novartis. The low-cost drugs will be available from mid-December in government and private hospitals, easing the burden on households. A monthly dose of cancer drugs manufactured by Novartis costs between $100 (Sh10,300) and $300 (Sh30,900) per month, according to several doctors. The cost is unaffordable to many ailing Kenyans due to poverty.
Kenya is the first country to benefit from the Novartis deal that will see 15 drugs sold at a dollar to 30 low- and middle-income countries. “The successful implementation of the programme in Kenya will be essential to guide its expansion to other countries in future,” said Joerg Reinhardt, chairman of the board of Norvatis, during the launch Thursday. “The medicines are among the most commonly prescribed.”