Commodities for better health in Africa--time to invest locally.

Editorials 387 With a rapidly expanding consumer market , African countries have new opportunities to strengthen their manufacturing sectors. The current climate of rising foreign investment will boost national economies and has the potential to benefit the health sector too. African countries now have a historic opportunity to free themselves from a vicious cycle of poverty, disease and dependency. Africa's development partners, especially the BRICS countries (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa), have a special role in supporting this critical phase of African development. The BRICS countries have already demonstrated their commitment to promoting global health. Now is the time to forge new partnerships that can support all African countries. The goal is to address health inequities and build capacity to meet supply shortages for essential health commodities that cannot be sourced reliably and sustainably from outside the continent. Africa remains dependent on imported medicines and other health technologies – a risky situation in a continent with the world's highest prevalence of HIV. The 7.6 million Africans living with HIV now on antiretroviral treatment and millions more waiting 1 depend on 80% of antiretroviral medicines being imported from outside the continent. The local production of medicines and other essential health commodities is important for all health challenges faced by the continent. Demand for health commodities is growing rapidly. The ageing population in Africa requires access to a growing range of medicines and assis-tive technology that cannot be met with Africa's existing manufacturing capacity and sources of supply. The world is calling for a new, more inclusive global development framework for the post-2015 era. UNAIDS has asserted that the international community can end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Reaching this milestone will require the rapid, strategic development of domestic pharmaceutical industries across the African continent. We welcome the surge of interest in the manufacturing of essential health technologies in Africa. In 2012, African Heads of State adopted the African Union Commission's (AUC) Business Plan for implementing the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA). 2 Last year, African leaders called for a strengthening of south–south cooperation – including collaboration with the BRICS countries – to scale up investment in Africa's pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, especially for generic essential medicines. 3 The task of ensuring reliable and sustainable manufacturing of medicines and other health technologies is a complex undertaking that requires highly accountable and strategic partnerships. UNAIDS, UNIDO and WHO are …