Ethiopia’s Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA) disclosed it intends to buy 15 billion Birr worth medicines and medical facilities for the current fiscal year.

Commenting on the issue, Director General of the Agency, Loko Abreham (Dr.), said the Agency intended to buy 1,400 items of medicines and medical facilities that would be distributed to beneficiaries during the current budget year.

In the last fiscal year PFSA distributed 13 billion Birr worth medicines and medical facilities for public use.

For the current fiscal year, the Agency had undertaken activities to provide around 420 highly demanded identified items, Loko explained. In addition to this, the Agency would try to procure 3 times a year medical facilities that need high capital, he added.

According to the Director General, the Agency plans to increase the medicine supply by 62 to 95 percent during the current fiscal year.

It was only 10 percent of the medicine demand that the local suppliers cover, Loko explained. The government provided incentives to increase the number of local pharmaceutical industries, he added.

Source: Walta Information Center