The interested parties in the Nigerian health sector met at the Kwara State Banquet Hall on Monday, April 28 to discuss strategies to boost the local production of medicines and vaccines.
Speaking at the National Conference of Harmonization on the subject, “contextualize the presidential initiative to achieve local production of medicines and vaccines in Nigeria”, organized by the presidential initiative on the health chain of the health (PVAC), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, the interested parties refer to the measures to identify the active measures to improve the production of medicines and vaccines, and provide support to which the support is made Parties in the measures of measures to identify local policies and production program and the support of local production and support for policy synthesis. Recommendations.
In his speech in the event, Kwara's health commissioner, Dr. Amina Ahmed El -imam, declared that the Covid-19 pandemic showed a reality in which the nation could not produce its own vaccines, saying that a situation in which 100% of the country's vaccines were obtained externally had to change.
The commissioner, who said that the conference was not only timely but essential, identified some critical challenges that were currently militated against the achievement of self -sufficiency in the local production of medicines and vaccines in Nigeria, emphasizing that unclear regulations between the states dissuade investors.
He also said that there is a need to align and harmonize national and state policy and standards through collaborations of the NAFDAC-STATE Ministry.
“Infrastructure challenges can be resolved through the development of regional pharmaceutical parks with PPP models and renewable energy investment.
“The qualified working group needs to grow. Good training of manufacturing practices (GMP) for staff is crucial.
The affordable capital is scarce, but manufacturers can take advantage of the intervention fund of the Health Sector (HSIF) of CBN at a single digit rates and probable moratoriums.
The health commissioner also said that the trip towards self -sufficiency in medicines and vaccines requires a concerted effort, adding that Kwara's state is committed to alignment.
One of the main speakers at the conference, Pharm. Abdulmalik Mohammed Baba, deputy director of Pharmaceutical Services at the Teaching Hospital of the University of Ilorin (Uith), requested an urgent action to boost the local production of Nigeria medicines.
He said that Africa has 17% of the world disease load, but manufactures less than 1% of the medications it consumes, and adds that Nigeria, despite being the largest economy in the continent, “imports more than 70% of its pharmaceutical products, spending billions of dollars annually and leaving the health system vulnerable to external shocks.”
He pointed out that the consequences of the great dependence on imports are already being felt through chronic disagreement of essential medicines, high treatment costs for daily Nigerians and vulnerability to supply chain interruptions.
Another speaker, Oba Dr. David Oyerinola Adedunmoye, Elerin de Adanla-Isese, emphasized that the health sector is a critical component of the infrastructure of a nation, which says that a change to local production will benefit the country's growth in medical care, economy and access to health products.
“The country will not only grow economically, but there will also be a reduced dependence on imports,” he said.
Oba Adedunmoye also said; “Financing the medical care sectors is not only for the government, and added that policies such as primary health care (PHC) needed the support of people, public-private associations (PPP), crowdfunding and community-based health insurance (CBHI), among others.”