…proffer solutions
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has provided a hint on why the cost of drugs (pharmaceuticals) has taken a jump in recent time.
It said that devaluation of the Naira accounted largely for the rise in cost of production locally, and high exchange rate made procurement of raw materials and equipment imported for production extremely high, adding that due to difficulty associated with procurement of dollar, cost of the imported drugs has also hit the roof.
It also added that over reliance in foreign countries/pharmaceutical companies for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and the non-actives called Excipients are some of the reason for the experience.
Director General of the Agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, dropped the hints at a webinar lecture organized by The Cable Newspaper to celebrate its 10th anniversary with the theme: ‘’Addressing Costs of Medicines’’.
She, however, assured Nigerians that the various policy measures already put in place by the government will soon begin to reflect positively in the cost of essential medical commodities.
However, to achieve the goal, the NAFDAC boss stressed the need for rejuvenation of the local pharmaceutical industry as a panacea for the high cost of medicines in the country, adding that locally manufactured medicinal products would be more accessible and affordable compared to the imported drugs.
Prof. Adeyeye reiterated that NAFDAC under her leadership started the “5 plus 5” regulatory scheme to encourage local pharmaceutical industry to grow, explaining that it’s a system
where a company that has been importing drugs that the local pharmaceutical industry is able to produce will get a last five-year renewal.
She further explained: “We insisted that during the five-year renewal period, the importer must migrate to local manufacturing or partner with local manufacturer. This is an outcome of a study that was done in 2019 that revealed that the top five drugs that are imported are also the top five drugs that are manufactured in Nigeria.
“From that initiative, many importers started building their own companies or partnering with local manufacturers through contract manufacturing. That’s the way to make drug available, accessible.”
The NAFDAC boss further explained that the Agency also did another policy change called NAFDAC Ceiling 34, wherein drugs under those ceiling cannot be imported.
“I told the industry operators that we need to start making some APIs locally. So far, EMZOR is almost completing its facilities in Shagamu, Ogun State. They are going to be making four anti-malaria APIs, namely, sulfadoxime, Pyrimethamine, Artemether and Lumefantrine. Similarly, the Fidson Consortium is also planning manufacturing some APIs,” she added.
She, however, stressed the importance of strengthening intellectual capacity in preparation for the manufacturing.