Local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, path to medicine security- FG
The Federal Government says local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines and medical devices is the sure path to medicines security in Nigeria
Mrs Olubunmi Aribiena, the Director, Food and Drug Services, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said this at the National Harmonisation Conference 2025 on Friday in Abuja.
The conference aimed at expediting local production of medicines and vaccines in Nigeria has “Contextualising the Presidential Initiative to Achieve Local Production of Medicines and Vaccines in Nigeria” as theme.
Aribeana, who was represented by Mrs Adeola Olufowobi-Yusuf, said that local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals also presents opportunities for job creation, international trade, economic growth and national security.
“We cannot afford to be caught flatfooted like during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All hands must be on deck to find innovative ways to achieving the goal of unlocking the health sector value chain.
“Nigeria needs to position itself in such a way as to maximally benefit from the African Free Trade Continental Area, which is adjudged to be among the largest in the world.”
She also said that local manufacturing would enhance sufficiency, affordable, accessible, good quality, and also reduce the nation’s reliance on imported goods.
She, however, said that the ministry would continually support with the development of policies that would create the enabling environment for investment in the health sector and efficient functioning of the All Government Initiative geared towards achieving a robust pharmaceutical sector.
Dr Omotayo Hamza, the Supply Chain Management Officer of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said that Nigeria was not lacking in policies, strategies and guidelines, but that the major challenge was implementation.
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“That is why, for this particular meeting, there is one key word that I love, and that is harmonisation. We need to harmonise amongst the stakeholders, between ministries.
“Ministry of Trade is doing something about local production. Ministry of Health is involved in something. Science and Technology too and these are the major stakeholders.
“We need to harmonise along that line for us to have a very strong agenda that is implementable, otherwise, we will have challenges.”
Dr Chinelo Okonkwo, a pharmacist, while speaking on misgivings by some about the efficacy of Nigerian vaccines, said that they could be trusted as they go through all the stages of production before they could be certified fit for use.
According to her, vaccine hesitancy is experienced all over the world and generally, there are adverse events following immunisation, but these are not enough to doubt the efficacy of Nigerian vaccines.
She, however, assured that Nigerian pharmacies are well trained and able to deliver the best vaccines for Nigerians.
“Our trust should be more on Nigerian products than the parallel imports. Vaccine itself is a cold chain molecule and in transporting them, if there is any break in that cold chain, that vaccine may not be potent.
“It is even better that it is produced here so that we can have it safe and efficacious for our people.”
The conference facilitator, Dr Olajide Adebola, said that the conference had the national and regional component and that the Presidential Initiative on Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) had organised the conferences because it was important to have conversations on pharmaceutical issues.
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According to him, COVID-19 taught the nation a lot of lessons and the conferences would assess the present state of the sector and come up with viable solutions to achieving the PVAC.
“We will examine how we have been able to fare under these new policies and government interventions, the executive orders?
“Is it reaching the grassroots, what advices and strategic recommendations at this point can we make to the government to update their current policy directions?”
Speaking to the causes of high cost of medicines, Adebola said that the cost of the import component of the medicines was the major factor driving up the costs, which would be addressed with the available government interventions in the sector.
“Some years back, there are some medicines we could not manufacture, we imported them, but now we are manufacturing and that is the importance of having sound, evidence-based, defensible government policies.
“In near futures, cost of medicines will come down as all stakeholders and actors are acting towards ensuring safe medicines and affordable medicines for Nigeria,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference brought together relevant stakeholders to create a forum for engagement across public, private, and community sectors to contextualise PVAC.
It would also identify actionable steps for enhancing local production of medicines and vaccines, and provide support in synthesising outcomes into policy and programme recommendations. (NAN)
