Accelerating work to transform Egypt into regional hub for pharmaceuticals

Recent statements by Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar has shed further light on the country’s hard efforts over the past few years to promote the drug industry, seeking to become a regional hub for the production of medication and medical supplies.

Addressing an event organised by the Egyptian Lebanese Businessmen Association (Elba), the minister lauded the capabilities of Egyptian pharmaceutical companies, which has come to produce 90 per cent of drug needs at home. This contributes to pharmaceutical security, and enhances Egypt’s ability to face health challenges.

Abdel Ghaffar also called for continued efforts to expand the localisation of the industry, to produce biopharmaceuticals locally and to open new markets in the Africa.

In fact, the state under President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, has been working as hard as ever, to further promote the industrial scene and localise various industries, as part of unprecedented efforts to achieve comprehensive development across the nation.

The drug industry has received due share of the state drive to become a regional industrial hub.

In previous statements, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, said that the pharmaceutical industry started in Egypt more than a century before, and over the last three years, 15 new drug plants were established, bringing the total to 172.

In addition, 33 new cosmetics factories have been established, totalling 120, in addition to 116 factories for medical supplies and devices, in addition to four new factories to produce raw materials and biopharmaceuticals that go into the pharmaceutical industry.

These include medication for advanced diseases such as oncology, for instance.

The dire need to localise the pharmaceutical industry has been felt during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Egypt could boost its pharmaceutical exports and increase its share of the global market by investing in advanced pharmaceutical technology, applying global quality standards, obtaining international certifications, and collaborating with global inspection agencies to secure export approvals, he noted.