The Federal Government has guaranteed a reduction of the soaring cost of medications to make it affordable to Nigerians.
The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this in a statement on Sunday.
Adeyeye gave the assurance at a webinar lecture organised by The Cable Newspaper, celebrating its 10th anniversary with the theme: “Addressing Costs of Medicines”.
She emphasized the current high cost of medicines in the country, noting that the partnership with pharmaceutical industries will bring down the cost of drugs across the country.
The D-G highlighted the effectiveness of locally made medicines, insisting that they would be more accessible and affordable compared to the imported drugs.
She called for the rejuvenation of the local pharmaceutical industries.
According to her, the devaluation of the Naira accounted largely for high cost of production locally as the high exchange rate made procurement of raw materials and equipment imported for production extremely high.
She added that two multinationals industries that left the country also amounted to the high cost of some medicals.
Adeyeye then explained that under her leadership, NAFDAC would establish “5 plus 5” regulatory scheme which entail companies importing drugs that could be produced by local pharmaceutical industry to get a last five-year renewal.
According to her statement, during the five-year renewal period, the importer must migrate to local manufacturing or partner with local manufacturer, adding that this was an outcome of a study.
She said that over 30 per cent of new companies in Nigeria sprung up as a results of the “5 plus 5” intitive, adding that it had encouraged many importers to build their companies.
Adeyeye stressed that some of the NAFDAC initiatives were aimed at reducing the cost of drugs, adding that local manufacturing cannot start without strengthening the regulatory process.
The statement also quoted the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, as saying that the policy measures put in place by President Bola Tinubu would soon begin to reflect on essential medical commodities. (NAN)