Poor Electricity, High Interest Rates Hamper Local Drug Production

The Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) has blamed poor electricity supply, high interest rates and the rising cost of living for the country’s inability to meet its pharmaceutical needs through local manufacturing.

The National Chairman of the association, Pharm. Bankole Aminu Ezebuilo made this known on Wednesday at the 13th Annual Symposium and Business Summit held in Kano.

The event, themed “Ensuring Sustainable Medicine Availability in Kano Amid Economic Stagnation Through Local Production, Strategic Procurement and ARG-ESM Support,” brought together industry stakeholders to discuss ways of strengthening Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.

Pharm. Ezebuilo said Nigeria still relies heavily on imported medicines despite having the capacity to manufacture a significant proportion of the drugs consumed in the country.

“About 70 per cent of the medicines used in Nigeria are still imported, even though we have the capacity to produce many of them locally,” he said.

He attributed the situation to the harsh operating environment confronting pharmaceutical manufacturers.

“Inadequate power supply, high interest rates and the rising cost of doing business have made it difficult for many local manufacturers to survive. Until these challenges are addressed, achieving self-sufficiency in drug production will remain difficult,” he said.

The NAIP chairman urged governments at all levels to invest in critical infrastructure and introduce policies that would encourage local pharmaceutical production, saying such measures would improve medicine availability and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.

Also speaking, the Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, said the state government is expanding the Kano Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA) to improve the storage and distribution of medicines across the state.

“The state government is constructing additional structures to expand the capacity of the Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency as part of efforts to strengthen the healthcare system,” he said.

Dr Labaran also challenged local pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase their production capacity to support the government’s efforts to make essential medicines more accessible and affordable.

Stakeholders at the summit stressed that improving local drug manufacturing is essential to strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system, creating jobs and reducing the country’s dependence on imported medicines.