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Stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry have warned that the persistent scarcity of essential drugs and subsequent price hikes will continue unless there is a significant boost in local production of medicines.
They emphasised the need for collaboration between pharmaceutical manufacturers and the government to increase domestic manufacturing capacity.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise, the pharmacists stressed that improved local drug production would help resolve current scarcity and hikes in prices of essential drugs in the country.
The National Chairman of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria, Kenneth Onuegbu, noted that local drug production would not only promote drug and medicine security but also attract foreign direct investment and improve the economy.
Onuegbu, however, stressed that the government must ease the process of doing business to encourage local investment in domestic drug production.
Onuegbu cited foreign exchange scarcity as a major challenge facing the industry, with the current exchange rate making it difficult for importers to access forex.
“The rate of the currency is above N1000 now. The value of our naira now is extremely poor, and if you want to buy something from abroad, it’s over N1000, and by the time you do your costing here, who and who can afford it in the country?” he questioned.
Onuegbu advocated for policies supporting local manufacturers, including reliable power supply, good road networks, and accessible forex.
“Once the ease of doing business is improved, our local players and average Nigerians will enjoy it, and it will also reduce the production of fake and adulterated pharmaceutical products,” he said.
Also, the Head of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs for Shalina Healthcare, Emeka Adimoha, emphasised the need for policy reforms to promote local production.
He lamented that some government policies were choking pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The pharmacist further called for a deliberate effort to make Nigeria productive.
Adimoha suggested establishing industrial parks with utilities and amenities to encourage manufacturing.
“There should be a deliberate effort to make Nigeria productive, and in that deliberate effort, it will need everything that is needed in that chain. We need to sit down and look at them,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of making forex available to pharmaceutical manufacturers, noting that high duties on raw materials discourage investors.
“If you want to woo investors into Nigeria to come and manufacture, and the raw materials they will need will be attracting high duties, it will not make sense. There is a need for a holistic approach,” Adimoha concluded.
Recently, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to boost local drug production in the country.
Adeyeye said the administration of President Tinubu administration understands the significance of local content, which is in tandem with the agency’s goals, which are to ensure “an increase in the nation’s GDP” and reduce the unemployment rate.
“Locally manufactured medicinal products would be more accessible and affordable compared to the imported drugs,” while the “rejuvenation” of the local pharmaceutical industry will become a “panacea for the high cost of medicines in the country,” the statement partly read.
The NAFDAC DG attributed the high cost of local production to the devaluation of the naira and high exchange, lamenting that it had made procurement of raw materials and equipment imported for production extremely high.
She, however, lauded the ‘5 plus 5’ regulatory scheme, which she said has improved the availability and accessibility of drugs.
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