Ethiopia suspends importing medicine from 11 Egyptian pharmaceutical companies

Tigrai Online, Ethiopian News, July 25, 2016

One of the known Egyptian newspapers, Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt Today) says Ethiopia has suspended importing all medicine from 11 Egyptian manufacturers after officials from the Ethiopian Health Ministry inspected the pharmaceutical factories. The article said the factories failed to meet the Ethiopian health standards after the inspection.  

“A delegation from the Ethiopian Ministry inspected 13 companies and found that in 11 cases, prescribed rules were not being applied to the production of pharmaceuticals.

The result of the inspection has severe implications for Egyptian companies that rely on exports, said the head of Export Council for Medical Industries, Maged George. He indicated that most of the companies are not solely reliant on Ethiopian trade, exporting to 15 countries in total.” Al-Masry Al-Youm said on its article.

We are surprised Ethiopia is importing medicine manufactured in Egypt. We know there is some trade exchange between the two countries, but given the historical rivalry and animosity between Ethiopia and Egypt it is more than odd to import something that is directly related to the health of the Ethiopian population from Egypt.

It might be total ignorance on our part to bring this up in this context, but aren’t Egyptians trying to keep Ethiopia from developing its God given resources to feed its people. Have they not been trying to keep us poor and unhealthy for millennia? Not only to stop Ethiopia from using the Nile waters, but also to stop Ethiopia from becoming a regional compotator in the region.

The Egyptians didn’t stop their intimidation to use force against Ethiopia if they find it useful to safeguard their interest. They are still arming, training, and sending their black-shirts to Ethiopia through their surrogates.

Couldn’t Ethiopia find another country to import medicine from instead of Egypt? The quality of the product is substandard as it is reported by the newspaper, but that is not the main reason Egyptian medicine should not be considered for import by Ethiopia. Ethiopia should worry about the security implications of the product which is directly related to the people’s health. We are not talking about furniture or pots and pans after all.

Source: Al-Masry Al-Youm, http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/ethiopia-suspends-medicine-import-11-egyptian-manufacturers