Samuel Bello, Abuja

In its quest to reduce the high rate of drug importation in the country, the Federal Government has said there is need to revise the curriculum on pharmacy to one that trains future pharmacists to become entrepreneurs, producers as well as manufacturers.

Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, stated this at the 16th Annual National Conference and Scientific meeting of Nigerian Association of Pharmacists in Academia (NAPA), with the theme “Sustainable Access to Quality assured Medicines and National Security” in Abuja.

According to the minister, in line with the Presidential Executive Order 5 and a knowledge based innovation driven economy, there is no better time but now for NAPA to gear its focus majorly on drug production.

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Onu added that the government, through the presidential executive order, looks to ensure the local production of every large quantity products that are imported into the country.

He said: “Many drugs in Nigeria are imported and that should not be so. When we talk about fake drugs, we can avoid it if we try to produce locally here. We want the executive order to become a law and we want Nigerians to understand that many laws are broken, but if Nigerians can know the importance of this order, it would go a long way.

In his address, NAPA National Chairman, Martins Emeje, said a nationally coordinated action is needed to preserve natural resources for current and future generations, finding solutions for degrading societies and preparing cities for the next century.

“We are currently confronted with major problems resulting from the unbridled importation of medicines, the quality of which we cannot vouch for; fundamental to this anomaly is the total absence of local and indigenous drug production,” he said.