ABSTRACT
"Uganda's drug regulatory agency is facing a financial deficit of US$857;000; more than half its budget for 2001-02. The Executive Secretary of the National Drug Authority (NDA); John Lule; said the agency could only raise US$800;000 out of US$1.6 million needed to run the NDA. Lule said that in 1993; when the NDA was formed; the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) met 90of NDA's budget. This has been gradually reduced to 10for 2000-01 and ended in March; 2001. The Uganda government has not provided funds to cover the shortfall. Lule said that as a result pharmaceutical companies would have to pay for verification and regulatory services that had been free; but the drug firms have warned that this move could cause drug prices to increase. ""The Danish tax payers do not owe us a living but in their generosity they have been funding the NDA""; Lule said. The Danish Ambassador to Uganda; Flemin Bjork; said the initial funding from the Red Cross through DANIDA had expired in March; 2001. He said the Danish government had committed another US$114;000 for development costs this financial year. He said they had stopped financing recurrent expenditures of NDA and this money would instead finance development programmes; including laboratory facilities; health-care training; a library; and expansion of the drug regulatory services in other parts of the country. The Danish government also pays for an expatriate advisor to support NDA. ""Starting on July 1 we have allocated not less than US$114;000 for NDA for development expensiture"". I don't know what it was before; but we are continuing with development expenditure""; said Bjork. This; however; will not reverse the US$857;000 deficit. The Ministry of Health has included the debt problem in a policy statement to be presented to parliament soon; to hopefully get emergency funds. Lule said the NDA would levy a 1charge on all drug importation invoices presented to it for verification. 90of the drugs used in Uganda are imported. In addition the NDA will charge US$4000 each time it inspects a pharmaceutical factory in Asia and US$2000 for factories in East Africato see if they are fit to export to Uganda. The fee for inspection of factories in Europe is yet to be fixed. The agency will also increase the cost of carrying out analysis at its drug quality control laboratory in Kampala. Pharmaceutical companies are protesting against the new charges and the way in which they were introduced. The General Secretary of the pharmaceutical Society of Uganda; James Tamale; they sympathise with NDA but htey should hsve been consulted first. ""We want dialogue so that any charges introduced are fair to us;"" he said. George Kibumba; a drug information pharmacist at the Joint Medical Stores( a company co-owened by the Catholic and Protestant churches); said Nda and the Ministry of Health should have planned better to avoid burdening pharmaceutical companies."