The Local Production and Assistance Unit in World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters and WHO Country Office (WCO) Ethiopia, in collaboration with World Bank (WB), Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), , and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products (CCCMHPIE), organized a virtual benchmarking of two pharmaceutical industry parks in China from 21-22 July 2020 to gather experiences and best practices in establishing quality assured and sustainable pharmaceutical production in industrial parks.
The virtual benchmarking is part of the comprehensive technical support from WHO, with the financial support from the WB, to support the Government of Ethiopia in preparing a roadmap for the development of a quality assured pharmaceutical park at the Kilinto Pharmaceutical Industry Park (KPIP). The virtual benchmarking gathered pertinent information on organizational policies, development strategies, governance and administration, marketing, regulation, innovative waste management (e.g. converting waste to wealth), newer technologies, energy and utilities, eco-innovation, symbiosis, etc.
Two state-of-the-art Chinese pharmaceutical Industry Parks, Zhuhai International Health Port and Taizhou Medical New and Hi-Tech Industrial Park shared information through presentations and virtual tour videos. Officials of the relevant government institutions, participants from WHO and WB and two consultants engaged to the develop the roadmap, took part in the program.
“WHO continues to support the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ethiopian Investment Commission in the development of a roadmap for the development of park-level quality assurance system in the KPIP,” said Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, WHO Representative to Ethiopia.
In his opening remark, Mr. Temesgen Tilahun, Deputy Commissioner of the EIC, emphasized the critical importance of virtual benchmarking in successfully developing a pharmaceutical park that meets international standards and is sustainable and competitive as the development of the horizontal infrastructure of the KPIP has been completed and it is embarking on attracting potential pharmaceutical investments.
Mr. Zhou Hui, the President of CCCMHPIE, also mentioned in his opening remark the long standing Ethio-China cooperation and expressed CCCMHPIE’s determination to further strengthen this relationship in building up Ethiopia’s capacity to establish a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.
Dr. Indrajit Hazarika, Coordinator, Strategic Health Policy and Planning, WCO Ethiopia, added in his opening remark that a strong focus on capacity building is required to lay the foundation for a fully GMP compliant, competitive, innovative and environmentally friendly pharmaceutical industry base.
Dr. Jicui Dong, Head of the Local Production and Assistance Unit, Access to Medicines and Health Products Division, WHO Headquarters, chaired the opening of the virtual sessions.
The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) strives to establish a pharmaceutical hub through developing industrial parks to realize the vision of strengthening and transforming the Ethiopian pharmaceutical industry along the entire value chain to an internationally competitive and compliant industry with current Good Manufacturing Practices to improve access to quality assured medicines in the local and regional markets.
WHO has been supporting the GoE in the development, launch and implementation of the National Strategy and Plan of Action for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Development (NSPA-Pharma) to improve access to quality-assured medicines through the holistic development of the local pharmaceutical sector. One of the key strategic objectives of the NSPA-Pharma is to develop dedicated industrial parks for pharmaceutical production. The KPIP covers 270 hectares that is fully dedicated to various types of pharmaceutical industries and is located in the south eastern part of Addis Ababa in Woreda 9 and 10 of Akaki- Kaliti Sub city.