Kenya: Cancer Drug Prices Slashed Sevenfold in Pfizer Deal - Ruto

What the report says

Kenya’s government has signed a medicines agreement with Pfizer that President William Ruto says will sharply lower the cost of treatment for several cancers. The announcement was made in Nairobi after Ruto met Pfizer chairman and chief executive Albert Bourla at State House, with officials from the health ministry, KEMSA and the US Embassy also present.

According to the report carried by Capital FM and distributed by AllAfrica, the deal is between Pfizer and the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority. It covers drugs used for breast, stomach, colon, lung, prostate and oesophageal cancers, as well as leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Ruto said some treatment cycles that can cost as much as Sh1 million would fall to below Sh50,000 in certain cases, and that the prices of these medicines had been reduced by more than seven times.

The president said the agreement could help make the Sh800,000 cancer package under the Social Health Authority sufficient to cover care without extra out-of-pocket spending. He also said Kenya would gain access to newer cancer medicines sooner than before, rather than waiting many years. In broader terms, the deal fits into the government’s effort to expand Universal Health Coverage and reduce financial hardship for patients facing high cancer costs.

Ruto also linked the agreement to local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa, saying Pfizer would make technologies and newer medicines available for production on the continent. That part of the plan suggests the deal may have implications beyond Kenya’s immediate drug prices, although the article did not provide implementation details.