Morocco is able to produce up to 70% of its drug requirements, including generics, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Ait Taleb, said on Tuesday.
Answering an oral question on consolidating Morocco's sovereignty in the pharmaceutical industry submitted by the National Rally of Independents (RNI) group, Ait Taleb stressed that the Kingdom is one of the countries with qualified companies capable of producing all the country's drug requirements.
The Ministry's strategy in this sector is meant to encourage local industry, not only in the field of medicines, but also in terms of medical devices, recalled the Minister, pointing to the existence of a set of agreements guaranteeing that these industries are not concentrated exclusively in Casablanca or Berrechid, but are established in other cities.
In this respect, the Minister underlined that King Mohammed VI has given His High Directives for the construction of a vaccine manufacturing plant, adding that this unit, capable of producing 100% of the vaccines Morocco needs, can even export to the African continent and therefore contribute to its pharmaceutical sovereignty in line with the Sovereign's aspirations.
The plant can produce up to 144 million doses, by far meeting the Kingdom's various vaccine needs, which amount to 22 million doses a year, noted Ait Taleb.
In addition, the Minister described efforts to lower drug prices as a major challenge to health sovereignty, particularly in the case of cancer treatment drugs, pointing out that, as part of the new governance adopted by the Ministry, the Moroccan Agency for Drugs and Health Products and its partners have agreed to produce cancer drugs.
