Rwanda is in talks with an Indian company to locally produce phytomedicines—drugs produced from parts of plants such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds among others. Between $4 million and $6 million is needed to set up the plant in Huye district—yet to be confirmed, according to National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA). A team of experts has been established to identify areas of cooperation and ensure the implementation starts soon, said Christian Sekomo Birame the Director General of NIRDA. Aloe vera is one of medecines plants that plays a big role in phytomedicines. Photo:Net photo. “The investor will also help in training farmers on growing the herbs that are needed in producing phytomedicines. We will also facilitate the establishment of the plant,” he said. He disclosed that the plant could be complete and operational by the end of this year. “We will provide the investor with some equipment that were previously used in Huye-based laboratory to process herbs,” Birame noted. The government has also committed to providing land in addition to skilling farmers on how to grow herbs. “Choosing the land where to grow such herbs also requires attention. The government will provide the land to the investor,” Birame said, “The herbs-based drugs are preferable compared to those from chemicals which can sometimes have side effects on people’s health.” The physician Prof. Dr. Aanaimuthu Rajendran is the Indian investor who owns “Life Care Phyto Labs” company that will set up the phytomedicine plant in partnership with local company, Bold Regains International Ltd. He revealed that the factory could be ready within six months. “We are trying to secure the land and work on other requirements and then sign contract with NIRDA on leveraging the existing equipment and laboratories as the land,” he said. Francis Habumugisha, the owner of Bold Regains International Ltd, said that importing phytomedicines in Rwanda said building capacity of Rwandans could solve the problem of those who have been produced such drug in a substandard way. Some herbal medicines currently made in the country are substandard, he said, adding the factory would help boost the standards of the local industry. 100 species of herbs to be used Olivier Kamana, the Head of Research and Development at NIRDA said the institution has earmarked 100 hectares of land on which to grow medicinal plants. The herbs will provide both medicine and food supplements which are concentrated sources of nutrients such as minerals and vitamins. Some 100 types of herb seeds will be multiplied while 18 other species will be imported from India Current status of phytomedicine sector A recent audit by NIRDA exposed widespread challenges in the nascent industry, saying most of the production is done in a rudimentary way. “There is no enterprise in Rwanda which operates a modern, completely equipped phytomedicine plant which meets good manufacturing practice standards,” reads part of the audit findings. The vast majority of those who produce phytomedicine products, it found, operate using entirely manual processes without any form of automation. “All categories of phytomedicines undertake some level of cultivation of medicinal plants, but the cultivation is often under-developed. The technology used in the production of phytomedicine is still low especially in small enterprises whose processes are often entirely manual or make use of low levels of automation,” the report says. The report emphasises that the phytomedicine sector lacks effective quality control, standardisation of products, or effective use of applied technology. Additionally, the value chain suffers from the limited availability of raw materials, the low quality of raw materials, and the high cost of those raw materials. The sector is currently not well regulated, but the ministry of health is planning to address this issue in the near future. “Many phytomedicines are available on the Rwandan market - but they are of low quality and are poorly packaged. Many enterprises are operating in the phytomedicine value chain with limited or no machinery and technology – and the level of value-added is small,” NIRDA says. Many phytomedicines are imported but similar products could be locally made and reduce the import of medicines as part of a “Made in Rwanda” policy. Rwanda’s manufacturing sector has been experiencing rapid growth but there is still need for significant efforts in the pharmaceutical sector. Statistics show that over 98 per cent of medicines used in Rwanda are imported causing then a huge trade imbalance where for instance between 2009 and 2013, Rwanda imported about US$ 45.8 million worth of medications per annum. NIRDA says that in order to enable the Rwandan population to obtain high-quality medicines at an affordable price, the manufacture of the drugs based on local raw materials must be one of the priorities of research..
