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Rabat – Sothema, a Moroccan pharmaceutical company, has opened a medical industrial complex in Bouskoura, near Casablanca, the first of its kind in Africa. The complex will manufacture serum and make cancer-fighting biotechnological medicinal products available at low prices.
The inauguration of the complex took place on Monday in the presence of Sothema General Director Lamia Tazi; Minister of Health Anas Doukkali; and Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade, and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy.
The establishment seeks to provide high-quality early cancer treatment to Moroccan citizens at affordable prices, reduce cancer mortality, and  improve the country’s healthcare sector.
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Founded in 1976, by Moroccan businessman Omar Tazi, Sothema has seven manufacturing pharmaceutical plants in Morocco and one in Senegal.
Deaths from cancer have increased in Morocco in the past few years, especially ones caused by cervical cancer.
From 2012 to 2018, the number of women who have lost their lives annually due to cervical cancer, which is often caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), has increased from 2,258 to 3,388 cases, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
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Access to cancer treatment in Morocco is very low, no more than 10 percent, said the report.
The total cost of cervical cancer care for one year after diagnosis is $13,589, whereas the cost of the HPV vaccine obtained by countries similar to Morocco is around $9.58 dollars per dose.
