The head of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has said that the agency is committed to improving the local production of drugs in the country.
She mentioned that doing this would help deal with the expensive cost of drugs across the country.
This was mentioned by Adeyeye during a webinar lecture organized by The Cable Newspaper for its 10th anniversary, which focused on the theme, ‘Addressing Costs of Medicines’.
According to NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, Adeyeye said the current administration emphasizes the importance of local content, in line with the agency’s objectives. This is expected to lead to “an increase in the nation’s GDP” and a lower unemployment rate.
She explained that “medicinal products made locally would be more accessible and affordable compared to the imported drugs.” Additionally, the revival of the local pharmaceutical industry will become a “solution for the high cost of medicines in the country,” the statement partly read.
The NAFDAC boss pointed out that the devaluation of the naira is a major factor contributing to the high cost of local production, as the high exchange rate has made the procurement of raw materials and equipment for production extremely expensive.
As a result, the DG said, “Two multinationals left which caused the cost of drugs they produce to go up.”
Adeyeye praised the ‘5 plus 5’ regulatory scheme, mentioning that it has enhanced the availability and accessibility of drugs
“To support the growth of the local pharmaceutical industry, Prof Adeyeye reiterated that NAFDAC, under her leadership, initiated the “5 plus 5” regulatory scheme, where a company importing drugs that the local pharmaceutical industry is capable of producing will receive a last five-year renewal.
“During the five-year renewal period, the importer must transition to local manufacturing or collaborate with a local manufacturer.
This is a result of a 2019 study which revealed that the top 5 drugs imported are also the top 5 drugs manufactured in Nigeria,” the statement read.
Adeyeye pointed out that from that initiative, “more than 30 per cent of new companies in Nigeria are results of the ‘5 plus 5’ scheme, which has led many importers to start “building their own companies or partnering with local manufacturers through contract manufacturing,” saying, “That is access. That’s the way to make drugs available, accessible.”
The NAFDAC DG mentioned, ‘’Our manufacturers import everything except water’,’ she said, adding that the raw materials – Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and the non-active called Excipients are all imported.
‘’I told the industry operators that we need to start making some APIs locally and that has resulted in EMZOR almost completing their facilities in Shagamu. They are going to be making four anti-malaria APIs – sulfadoxime, Pyrimethamine, Artemether and Lumefantrine. The Fidson consortium is also planning to manufacture some APIs. The DG mentioned the initiative was aimed at reducing the cost of drugs eventually.
‘’But we cannot begin making things locally without making the rules stronger because we have never put rules on local making of APIs.”
Adeyeye said that NAFDAC would use traceability technology to monitor the supply chain, to check the “substandard falsified medicines.”
Speaking in the same way, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate assured Nigerians that the various policy measures already put in place by the President would soon start to have a positive effect on the cost of essential medical products.
The minister pointed out that the increasing costs of pharmaceuticals are part of the global phenomenon, expressing regrets that Nigeria has been playing catch-up for the past 20 years.
‘’We are working hard to do so through the Presidential Initiative to unlock the pharmaceutical value chain that the President announced in October 2023. But two pockets of issues underlying what we are observing now. Nigerians are hurting.
“There’s forex devaluation which is on the supply side – the ability to buy materials, equipment and the infrastructure deficit. Some infrastructure for manufacturing that we have is not at the level that could meet up the demand that we have,’’ he said.
