As the world marks World AIDS Day, Kenya has ratified a trade deal that undermines access to affordable medicines, weakens local production, and jeopardizes the constitutional right to health.
Blog Article by Okania Pesa
At the beginning of 2025, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates negotiated an Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed on 14th January 2025 between the President of Kenya and the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The agreement was then submitted to parliament as part of ratification process, with the public invited to submit inputs.
KELIN, along with other civil society and community representatives, submitted inputs to Parliament opposing clauses in the agreement that include TRIPS-plus provisions (provisions that go beyond the minimum standards set by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Agreement) which could limit access to affordable generic medicines, undermining Kenya’s public health priorities. KELIN urged the National Assembly, guided by the revised Parliamentary Standing Orders, to reject the TRIPS-plus provisions and withhold ratification of the Kenya–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
In November 2025, the Parliamentary Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Health after considering inputs, submitted a report back to the National Assembly recommending the Ratification of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) subject to reservations of Article 13.33 (Protection of undisclosed test or other data for pharmaceutical products), which had the potential to restrict access to affordable medicines. This was a laudable report by the committee that sought to protect Kenya’s public health priorities.
However, in a strange move only a few days later, the National Assembly disregarded the recommendations from the Committee and went ahead to ratify the agreement without the proposed reservations, hence failing to reject TRIPs-plus provisions in the CEPA. The National Assembly’s move disregarded public input opposing these provisions (inputs which were clearly captured in the committee report).
Kenya’s ratification of the Kenya–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) without reservations is not just a trade decision, it is a direct assault on the constitutional right to health. By deleting safeguard clauses, Parliament has locked the country into TRIPS‑plus provisions that will delay the entry of affordable generics, entrench monopolies, and weaken our already fragile pharmaceutical sector.
Kenya’s failure to invest meaningfully in public health makes the ratification of CEPA with the UAE even more reckless. At a time when nations across the world are already operating at ML3 or higher,[1] Kenya is still working toward ML3 accreditation to strengthen its pharmaceutical regulatory framework. Achieving this status would place it alongside countries such as Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and South Africa.
Signing trade deals while still working toward ML3 accreditation therefore shows no consideration for the right to health. Weak policy and regulatory frameworks and lack of political goodwill continue to hinder the environment for local production, leaving us dependent on foreign monopolies. Worse still, with health funding shrinking and international aid drying up, the government has taken no initiative to build resilience or secure sustainable access to medicines.
This betrayal is even more glaring as the world marks World AIDS Day at a time when infection cases are rising across the nation. For decades, Kenya has relied on affordable, generic antiretroviral medicines to sustain millions of lives. How will we continue to guarantee access to life‑saving products if trade agreements lock us into monopolies that delay generics and inflate prices? The fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Cancer, malaria, and countless other conditions depends on timely, affordable medicines. Without them, Universal Health Coverage becomes an empty slogan.
Kenya cannot claim to champion public health while ratifying agreements that make medicines unaffordable. It cannot claim to support local industry while embedding rules that suffocate it. The government must work towards involving citizens in the implementation of Free Trade Agreements. Transparency is key. Without it, trade deals will continue to be negotiated in secrecy, with devastating consequences on public health.
The lesson of COVID‑19 was clear: without affordable medicines and strong local production, we remain vulnerable. The lesson of HIV/AIDS is equally clear: access to generics saves lives. Kenya must not trade away these hard‑won gains. Trade should strengthen our economy, not strip away our rights.
This serves both as a call and a reminder to the government of Kenya that without sustained public health investment, our ability to produce medicines locally, respond to crises, and guarantee access to life‑saving products will remain compromised. Trade agreements that undermine access only deepen this vulnerability.
Parliament and the Executive must be reminded that no agreement should cost Kenyan lives.
“The Legislature has chosen trade interests over the health and dignity of its people. By ignoring public input and allowing TRIPS-plus barriers to affordable medicines, government has undermined the very foundation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC)— the epitome of accessible and affordable healthcare. You cannot speak of UHC while legislating away the ability of ordinary Kenyans to obtain essential treatment.”- Allan Maleche, Executive Director, KELIN
#RightToHealth #MakeMedicinesAffordable
[1] This refers to the recognition granted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to a country’s National Regulatory Authority when it demonstrates a well‑functioning, stable, and effective regulatory system for medicines and medical products, as assessed through the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT).
