Access to affordable, quality assured and efficacious medicines and healthcare products is at the core of quality healthcare and aspirations for Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC). Currently, Africa bears up to 23% of global disease burden[1] with dismal investment. Additionally, Africa depends on pharmaceutical imports which is estimated to be within the range of 70% to 90% with plans to foster local pharmaceutical manufacturing as envisaged in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA)[2][3][4]. The plan provides for prerequisites and challenges that plague the continents’ pharmaceutical sector including human capacity shortfalls, weak regulatory systems which contribute to influx of counterfeit, substandard & falsified medicines while constraining the development of the sector, weak procurement and supply chain management systems, limited research capacity and financing among others. Regardless of these shortfalls, it’s envisioned that for Africa to address the prevailing challenges and provide for its people the necessary quality medicines there is need to drive a concerted continent-wide agenda to improve the pharmaceutical sector.
As a Pan-African platform that convenes pharmaceutical industry professionals and stakeholders, we believe that the key ingredient and catalyst for transformational change is human capital. This is the basis upon which at the core of work is to stimulate industry conversations for experience sharing and to foster collaborative engagements to drive growth. This formed the basis for the “Nurturing the Next Generation of Pharmaceutical Industry Professionals and Leaders” which is a bespoke professional development program we have designed under our Pharmaceutical Workforce Development stream with a focus on:
- Bridging the gap between academic training and market relevant skills required to drive growth of Africa’ pharma industry.
- Fostering collaboration and partnerships among professionals within the pharmaceutical industry
- Promoting best practices in pharmaceutical practice
- Informing and shaping policies for industry growth.
We deliver the program through:
- Short courses on industry specific subject matters e.g., pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, digital health in pharmacy, clinical research, pharmaceutical supply chain management, global health pharmacy and global project management among others.
- Experiential industry placements in the form of fellowships and tutorships.
- Post graduate academic programs in partnership with allied training institutions.
- Industry-led discussion forums to share insights, perspectives and trends across the continent while promoting knowledge on the industry.
Accreditation:
This program has been granted the seal of accreditation by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and CPD accredited by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), Kenya.
[1] Closing Africa’s Health Financing Gap: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2019/03/01/closing-africas-health-financing-gap/
[2] How Africa can manufacture to meet its own pharmaceutical needs: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/september-2020/how-africa-can-manufacture-meet-its-own-pharmaceutical-needs
[3] African Pharma: A Prescription for Success: https://african.business/2019/04/economy/african-pharma-a-prescription-for-success/
[4] Should Sub-Saharan Africa make its own drugs? : https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/should-sub-saharan-africa-make-its-own-drugs