Kenya announces significant cancer medicine price reductions after Pfizer-KEMSA agreement

This agreement, signed under Pfizer's "An Accord for a Healthier World" initiative, will significantly lower prices for medicines treating various cancers, including breast, stomach, colon, lung, prostate, and oesophageal cancers, as well as leukaemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. According to President Ruto, prices for affected medicines have fallen by more than seven times, with some treatments dropping from as much as KSh 1 million to below KSh 50,000 per cycle. This development is expected to reduce the financial burden on patients, making the KSh 800,000 cancer treatment package under the Social Health Authority SHA adequate without additional costs.

The agreement will also provide Kenya with faster access to newer cancer medicines, bypassing traditional lengthy delays. President Ruto also linked the agreement to his broader push for increased pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa, welcoming Pfizer's move to make its technologies and newer medicines available for local production on the continent. The announcement was made after President Ruto received Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla at State House Nairobi.