By; MATTHEW UKACHUNWA, Lagos
It is high time Nigeria attained medicine security in order to achieve sustainability in access to medicine.
Mr. Frank Muonemeh, the Executive Secretary of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) made the suggestion while speaking on the topic, “Dwindling Local Drug Production and High Cost of Essential Medicines: Rethinking Strategies for Growth.”
Muonemeh made the presentation at Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) year 2024 Symposium and Award ceremony in Lagos, where he represented the keynote speaker, Mr. Oluwatosin Jolayemi, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Daily Needs Industries and Chairman of PMG-MAN.
The PMG-MAN scribe said that the concept of Medicine Security emphasizes the importance of ownership and leadership in achieving sustainability in access to medicine.
He disclosed that Medicine Security is built on five components, namely: availability, accessibility, affordability, quality and safety.
Muonemeh disagreed with HEWAN on the theme, “Dwindling Local Drug Production,” stressing that contrary to the perception by the health writers’ group that Nigeria is having a dwindling local drug production, there is increase in the production. He said that several factors have driven the increase in local medicine manufacturing.
The factors that have driven local drug manufacturing, according to him, include that government has prioritized self-reliance and local production. Others are that local agencies that previously shunned locally manufactured medicines for their intervention programme have started to rethink their stance.
He said that those agencies are at present using locally produced medicines for their intervention programmes.
“Additionally, more local manufacturers are emerging, scaling up their facilities, building up their facilities, building new ones and introducing new molecules using innovative technologies,” the PMG-MAN chief elaborated.
He buttressed his claims by pointing out that according to National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) database, Nigeria has at present approximately 165 local pharmaceutical manufacturers with members of PMG-MAN heading towards 135 companies.
“I have my reservations about the notion of dwindling local drug production. In reality, the situation is quite the opposite when examined empirically. Pre-COVID-19, we had a 70% : 30% ratio of imported to locally produced drug,” the PMG-MAN secretary told the health writers. “Today, post-COVID-19, this ratio has improved to 55% : 45%, thanks in large part to lessons during the pandemic.”
According to Muonemeh, “The disruptions caused by the pandemic highlighted the importance of ensuring that future pandemics do not disrupt the supply chain of life-saving commodities.
He announced that the concept of Medicine Security developed by PMG-MAN asserts that Nigeria must have control over how their medicines are produced, from active pharmaceutical ingredients to excipients, to finished pharmaceutical formulations.
The pharmaceutical industry specialist urged Nigeria to have a concrete strategy for Medicine Security that is similar to what obtains in India, China, Bangladesh and developed countries that prioritize their local pharmaceutical companies.
He stressed that building a robust local pharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem is essential for shielding the country from future uncertainties, because multinationals may divest and leave Nigeria due to economic challenges, but local manufacturers would remain in the country to salvage the situation.
Muonemeh enumerated the challenges confronting local pharmaceutical manufacturers. The challenges included what he described as self-inflicted taxations that increase costs for end-users and reduce competitiveness, infrastructural deficits such as the need to provide own energy, with energy cost rising to 30 per cent.
Other challenges are inefficient implementation of existing government policies; policy inconsistency, and so on.
In expression of view on rethinking strategies for growth in the pharmaceutical subsector of the health sector, Muonemeh enjoined federal government to take the lead in achieving Medicine Security by creating an enabling environment that is driven by enforcement of right policies.
According to him, developing the right policies is only 10 per cent of the work, and faithfully following through with those policies requires 90 per cent of political will.
In concluding his talk, the PMG-MAN made a statement for reflection: He said, “Imagine Nigeria in 2050 with a population of 440 million, facing another Ebola or COVID-19 pandemic, where global supply chain stops abruptly. With a rapidly growing population of 3.6 per cent, the scenario could become our reality.”
Muonemeh declared that the poser he enunciated underscores the need for a clarion call to all actors – government, private sector, and the academia – in preparation for future pandemics.
He asserted that medicine security is an integral part of national security, and, therefore, medicine security deserves urgent national attention.
