Unhealthy South Africans the lure for multinational drugs companies
SA’s unhealthy population makes the county attractive to pharmaceutical multinationals, BMI Research said in note on Wednesday. Widespread tobacco usage, exposure to environmental carcinogens, an increasingly westernised lifestyle, and a high prevalence of risk-associated viruses like human papillomavirus, hepatitis B and C, translate into growing demand for cancer treatments, it said. Cancer accounted for 38,348, or 21%, of SA’s chronic disease-driven deaths in 2015, according to BMI’s Disease Database. "We forecast this figure to reach 58,683 (23%) by 2030," the researchers said. "As the country’s cancer burden continues to rise significantly, this will provide greater revenue-earning opportunities for pharmaceutical companies whose product portfolios include oncology treatments. Roche, Sanofi, Cipla Medro, AstraZenca and Novartis are active players in SA’s oncology market," BMI said. Cancer vaccines could be one way of providing protection for patients with little access to basic...
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