Medicine Prices in Africa

African governments are all grappling with the issue of high medicine prices. This chapter looks at relevant aspects related to pharmaceutical price surveys, analyses, and comparisons in the WHO AFRO region, by providing an overview of current price studies in major pharmaceutical markets in Africa. For the presented price studies, the authors discuss the results and analyze the impact of methodological choices on the findings, between and within different regions of Africa. However, pricing surveys are not conducted in all African countries, and where they are conducted, they are not consistent, leading to large gaps between surveys. This will need to be addressed as equitable access to affordable, quality-assured essential medicines, which is a crucial step in achieving universal health coverage, which is a key policy move for all countries in Africa.