Situation analysis of the medicines pricing in context of the national medicines policy of Namibia
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2025
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
This study provides an in-depth analysis of medicine pricing in Namibia, emphasizing the gaps and challenges within the existing regulatory framework and proposing recommendations for the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive National Medicine Pricing Policy. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Namibia's current National Medicines Policy (NMP) in regulating medicine prices, ensuring affordability, and improving access to essential medicines in both public and private sectors. The study's objectives were to explore regulatory barriers that hinder effective policy implementation, evaluate compliance levels among key stakeholders, and identify primary challenges in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of medicine pricing policies in Namibia. The absence of a structured and comprehensive medicine pricing policy, leading to price disparities, inconsistent enforcement, and reliance on imported medicines, framed the core problem addressed by this research. A qualitative, exploratory research approach was adopted, with document content analysis utilized to examine secondary data from legislative acts, regulatory reports, national policies, government reports, and international guidelines. Data analysis focused on identifying gaps within the existing pricing framework and evaluating Namibia's practices against international best practices, including World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and case studies from countries like South Africa and Brazil. The findings reveal significant shortcomings in Namibia's current medicine pricing system, including a lack of transparency in pricing mechanisms, absence of standardized pricing frameworks such as External Reference Pricing (ERP) and Internal Reference Pricing (IRP), and fragmented policy enforcement.
Description
Keywords
National Medicine, Regulatory Framework, Namibia, Pricing Policy, Legislative Acts