Why African drug firms must widen medicine access gap

In an article for The Nation, Precious Igbonwelundu covers the release of the 2026 Access to Medicine Index, focusing on how pharmaceutical companies are responding to access gaps in Africa. 

The article highlights the report's finding that fewer than 10 of the 245 access plans for medicines included in the 2026 Index included Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – three of the most populous countries in Africa. This underlines the need for pharmaceutical companies to initiate access plans for their products more comprehensively.  

Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Access to Medicine Foundation, is quoted: “Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease are taking a fast-rising toll across the African continent. Yet access efforts for these conditions still concentrate on wealthier countries and rarely reach low-income populations."