Taxing Africa to Death

This research paper argues that high taxes and tariffs imposed by governments in poor countries, particularly in Africa, create significant financial barriers to accessing life-saving medicines and medical supplies, undermining international aid and drug price reductions.

• Governments in poor countries often impose high taxes and tariffs on medicines and medical supplies to protect domestic industries or raise revenue, which effectively taxes the poorest citizens and hinders health treatment.
• There is a significant statistical relationship between tariff rates and medicine access, where a 1% reduction in tariffs is associated with a 1% increase in access.
• Several countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, India, Nigeria, Brazil, and Morocco, have imposed financial barriers exceeding 27% on medicines.
• International donors and organizations are reacting to medical taxes; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria requires assistance to be free of customs duties and taxes, and a US bill, 'The Neglected Disease Results Act of 2005', proposed outlawing donations to countries that tax donated medicines.
• In India, a reduction in total financial barriers from 61% to 20% has begun to improve access to medicines, which previously stood at 35% despite having the world's highest number of HIV cases (approximately 8.5 million).
• In Kenya and Uganda, the imposition of 10% import tariffs on all imported medicines on 1 January 2005, following East African Customs Union protocols, is expected to cause considerable harm and hinder treatment goals.
• Beyond taxes, bureaucratic barriers delay the availability of medicines; in South Africa, drugs registered in the US, EU, and Japan may wait over two years for authorization from the Medicine Control Council.
• Namibia introduced burdensome regulations after its 1990 independence by requiring the re-registration of all medicines that had been previously registered in South Africa.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2008). Taxing Africa to Death. https://saiia.org.za/research/comment-taxing-africa-to-death/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Taxing Africa to Death. 2008. https://saiia.org.za/research/comment-taxing-africa-to-death/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Taxing Africa to Death |date=25 April 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/comment-taxing-africa-to-death/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2008taxing, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Taxing Africa to Death}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/comment-taxing-africa-to-death/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }