Policy Options and Constraints
Tanzania is rapidly losing its pharmaceutical production capability, and therefore its ability to supply one of its population’s basic needs. The loss undermines Tanzania’s medium-term security of supply of essential medicines. It threatens cumulative industrial and employment decline in one of Tanzania’s few higher-skill sectors and in local suppliers, including plastics and packaging. It increases the trade deficit and misses opportunities to exploit development synergies between health needs, health financing, and industrial growth.