The Department of Health defended its medicine procurement policies after an industry body blamed government tender practices for thousands of job losses. These job losses occurred among South African pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The dispute highlights increasing tension between government efforts to support local pharmaceutical manufacturing and the need to secure affordable medicines. However, the Department of Health also needs to secure affordable medicines.
Pharmaceuticals Made in South Africa (Pharmisa) told Parliament’s portfolio committee on trade, industry, and competition that an excessive focus on price is excluding domestic manufacturers from key medicine tenders.