Senior Presidential Advisor for Political Mobilisation, Mr. Moses Byaruhanga, has called for stronger government support for locally manufactured medicines, saying increased procurement from Ugandan pharmaceutical manufacturers will create jobs, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen the country’s industrial base.
Mr. Byaruhanga made the remarks last week during a meeting with the leadership of the Uganda Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (UPMA) and the State House medical team at Serena Hotel, Kampala.
The meeting was held to review the progress of the government's policy of supporting domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers and to discuss challenges affecting the growth and competitiveness of the sector.
Mr. Byaruhanga said the meeting followed an earlier engagement he held with pharmaceutical manufacturers in 2015 while contributing to preparations for the 2016 presidential elections.
He recalled that at the time, the National Medical Stores (NMS) had a budget of about Shs110 billion, equivalent to approximately US$70 million, but only about five to 10 per cent of its procurement was from local pharmaceutical manufacturers.
He said the situation prompted him to engage local manufacturers to establish why Ugandans were not investing adequately in an industry with a guaranteed government market.
According to Mr. Byaruhanga, the manufacturers explained that they faced unfair competition because government procurement for medicines included international bidding, exposing local firms to competition from manufacturers in countries such as India and China, where production benefits from economies of scale.
He said the concerns were subsequently presented to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who in 2016 directed that medicines manufactured locally should be procured through domestic bidding.
“The purpose was to create a market for the domestic manufacturers, which could create domestic and local jobs, and also use local utilities like electricity, water and using local raw materials where possible,” Mr. Byaruhanga said.
He said the policy has since produced significant results, with local procurement by NMS rising from about five per cent at the time of the initial engagement to 60 per cent in the Financial Year 2024/25.
Mr. Byaruhanga added that by March 2026, NMS had already procured about 64 per cent of its medicines from local manufacturers in the Financial Year 2025/26.
He noted that the increase was even more significant given that the NMS budget had grown from about US$70 million in 2015 to nearly US$200 million.
“Now we are spending more locally, instead of taking all the dollars outside the country and also creating more jobs,” he said.
However, Mr. Byaruhanga said the government must address emerging challenges if the gains made in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector are to be sustained.
He said the State House medical team had raised concerns that the list of pharmaceutical products, or molecules, eligible for the domestic procurement arrangement had remained at 37 for nearly a decade, despite the growth of the local industry and the availability of more locally manufactured medicines.
“The President’s directive did not limit the list. It said anything locally manufactured, the government doesn't import. And that must be maintained,” Mr. Byaruhanga said.
He directed that the matter be followed up with the relevant government agencies to ensure that locally manufactured medicines that meet required quality standards are given priority in government procurement.
Mr. Byaruhanga also raised the issue of off-take agreements, saying such arrangements should not create monopolies where one local manufacturer is given exclusive access to a government market for products that are already being manufactured by other Ugandan companies.
He said off-take agreements could instead be used to encourage investment in new pharmaceutical products and molecules that are not currently manufactured locally.
“We want fair competition among local manufacturers. The off-take agreement can work easily if something is not locally manufactured,” he said.
Mr. Byaruhanga further said the government would engage the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) over tax and regulatory challenges affecting manufacturers, particularly the importation of specialised equipment required for pharmaceutical production.
He said the concerns raised by UPMA would be followed up with the relevant government institutions.
The Senior Presidential Advisor also announced that the State House is strengthening its capacity to engage the pharmaceutical sector through a dedicated pharmacy desk.
He said the desk would provide a platform for continuous engagement between the State House medical team and pharmaceutical manufacturers as the government works to resolve outstanding challenges.
Speaking on behalf of UPMA, the association's chairman and Managing Director of Rene Industries, Mr. Rishi Vadodaria, thanked Byaruhanga and the State House medical team for engaging the manufacturers.
Mr. Vadodaria said UPMA represents more than 20 pharmaceutical manufacturers whose combined investments exceed US$500 million.
He said the industry employs more than 5,000 Ugandans directly and more than 20,000 indirectly, while also supporting other local industries through the purchase of packaging materials, bottles, corrugated boxes and other locally produced inputs.
He said local manufacturers produce a wide range of pharmaceutical products, including tablets, capsules, liquids, external preparations, veterinary products, injectables, syringes and other surgical implements.
Mr. Vadodaria commended the government for the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda (BUBU) policy and the domestic procurement arrangements, saying they had contributed to the expansion of Uganda's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
He appealed to the government to review and expand the list of 37 molecules to at least 100 to enable local manufacturers to supply more medicines to the market.
He also asked the government to review the application of off-take agreements where they affect manufacturers already producing the same medicines locally.
Mr. Vadodaria further raised concerns over taxes imposed on specialised clean-room equipment used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, saying the additional costs increase the capital burden on investors.
He said a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility can require an investment of between US$8 million and US$10 million, making additional import duties, VAT and withholding tax on specialised equipment a significant cost to investors.
Other UPMA representatives at the meeting included Secretary General and Executive Manager of DEI BioPharma, Dr. Adrian Kivumbi Ddungu; Managing Director of Abacus Parenteral Drugs Ltd, Mr. Ramesh Babu; Dr. Sam Kitatta of ORO Pharma Group under the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC); and Ms. Irene Mbabazi, Personal Assistant to the UPMA chairman.
The State House medical team included Senior Pharmacist Dr. Esther Kisakye, Senior Presidential Advisor on Pharmacy Dr. Margaret Naluyima, Paediatrician Dr. Sekina Hussein, among others.