The mid-year annual meeting/annual dinner of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Board of Fellows (BoF), recently ended in Abuja, with former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi urging pharmacists to put more efforts towards achieving self-sufficiency in the manufacture of drugs. Obi, who was the guest speaker at the 2017 edition of the occasion which held at NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja, spoke on the theme: “Weathering the Storm of Economic Downturn: Now and Beyond.” He lamented that whereas countries like India and China that were at par with Nigeria in terms of the development of the pharmaceutical industry, had recorded phenomenal growths in the sector, while Nigeria continues to grapple with adverse business environment.
The former governor remarked that the contributions of the sector to the economic growth of both China and India had been immense while in Nigeria the sector’s contributions ranks among the least in the world despite huge natural and human potentials that abound in the country. “Nigeria’s GDP is $400 billion and the pharmaceutical industry contributes between 0.25 to 0.30%, which is a maximum of $1 billion to $1.2 billion annually.
“The GDP of China is $12 trillion and its pharmaceutical industry contributes 1% to 1.25%, being $120 billion to $150 billion, and the GDP of India is about $2.3 trillion and its pharmaceutical industry contributes about 2% ($40 billion),” Obi said.
He regretted that the industry could not build on the initial progress it recorded in different areas – citing the closure of a vaccine production laboratory owned by the country way back in 1948, which produced small pox, yellow fever and anti-rabies vaccines as an example of one of the ways through which Nigeria lost the track to developing the sector. The guest speaker recalled that the vaccine laboratory was shut down in 1980 for upgrade and increased capacity that never materialised due to successive governments’ policy changes “even after millions of US Dollars had been spent to bring in some sophisticated automatic freeze drying equipments.”
One such equipment he continued, procured in 1995 at the sum of US dollar 1.2 Million is still in a crate on the grounds of the Federal Vaccines Production Laboratory in Yaba, Lagos.
He noted that local manufacturers covered only 20 per cent of the nation’s needs, with virtually all the raw materials being imported, Obi charged pharmacists to seek ways to cover 50 per cent of the drug needs of the country in the next 10 years, by, among others, sourcing raw materials like starch locally. While commending pharmacists in Nigeria for their resilience in committing to advancement of the sector despite odds, the former governor also admonished authorities in the sector to seek ways of locating the secrets behind rapid growth of the industry as recorded in India and China with a view to borrowing ideas from both countries in efforts to re-invent the industry in Nigeria.
“Innovation is the mother of inventions, for pharmaceutical industry to survive, there is need to be innovative. You must innovate or you are out of the scheme of things. This can only be achieved by approach of maximising opportunities through keeping strong and focus on while the struggle with seemingly unabated economic hardship lingers on, the will to survive should be our greatest resolve. We must ensure that we avail ourselves to the reforms unveiled by the Federal Government of Nigeria like the following: Local content in Public Procurement as stated in the Executive Order, the National Industrial Policy, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, a Medium Term Plan for 2017-2020 etc,” Yakassai said.
He further said that recession offers a unique opportunity for the cream of the pharmacy profession to think out of the box with ingenuity in order to strive for economic survival.
In a related development, the PSN council has achieved considerable strides in the advancement of the profession.
A statement by the council, made available to PharmaTimes, indicates that during the advocacy visit by the chairman of the BoF, to Assene-Laborex Limited, the managing director of the company, Mr. Paul Hogan, announced his organisation’s readiness to partner with the council to facilitate the realisation of its set goals.
It was also gathered that Assene-Laborex Limited had accepted to pay an annual N900, 000. 00 cash as prizes to the best students in the 18 accredited pharmacy faculties in Nigeria through the BoF.
Other achievements recorded by the council include: securing the entry point of pharmacists into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), from Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) after advocacy visit to the Inspector General of Police; facilitating the recognition of WAPCP Fellowship as a post-graduate qualification for promotion purposes; initiating a convocation of inter-professional summit in the near future by PSN president for purposes of stimulating greater harmony in the health delivery team; facilitating the withdrawal of court cases between PSN members (national and state) and, addressing the controversy on the illegality or otherwise of practicing law and pharmacy simultaneously.
The council meeting however recommended the setting up of a committee that will explore the possibility of BoF participating in a fund generating business to enhance its capacity to generate funds needed to execute its set goals
Sammy Adaba
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