EPSS Says Share of Medicines With Supplier Gaps Fell to 16 Percent
Ethiopia’s pharmaceutical supply agency says expanded supplier registration reduced the share of medicines with inadequate sourcing options from 27 percent to 16 percent.
In short
- Ethiopia’s pharmaceutical supply agency says expanded supplier registration reduced the share of medicines with inadequate sourcing options from 27 percent to 16 percent.
The Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service says the share of medicines for which it lacks sufficient suppliers has fallen to 16 percent from 27 percent after an effort to expand supplier registration.
EPSS Director-General Abdulqadir Gelgelo presented the figures at a media briefing on August 26, 2026. He said some products, including certain cancer medicines, had previously lacked enough registered suppliers, complicating procurement. EPSS worked to add vendors and ensure their registration with the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority.
The agency said it signed supply agreements with 5,000 health facilities during the last fiscal year. Those institutions collected medicines worth nearly 16.3 billion birr against procurement contracts valued at 24 billion birr, an estimated fulfillment level of about 70 percent.
Abdulqadir also said EPSS had improved its ability to identify suppliers, sourcing methods and product quality, describing its sourcing efficiency as 95 percent compared with less than 50 percent seven years earlier. The performance figures are EPSS’s own and were reported by The Reporter.
