The syringes needed in Nigeria is between two billion to 2.5 billion annually and all the seven licensed local manufacturers have the capacity to produce 1.95 billion units of syringes per annum if provided with favourable business environment, said Akin Oyediran, president, Medical Device Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MDMAN).
The MDMAN president disclosed this during the continuation of the public hearing on the ‘importation of syringes and needles into the country’,stressing that local manufacturers of syringes should be encouraged, especially in this era of COVID-19.
However, the senate committee on Health has been investigating the petition brought before it by MDMAN.
The association had in its petition alleged that government, at all tiers, were not patronising them but were embracing foreign syringes and needles.
In her submission, Mojisola Adeyeye, director general of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), had earlier informed the panel that the local manufacturers of syringes and needles in Nigeria lacked the capacity to produce the required quantity needed in Nigeria, hence the agency licensed some people to import the shortfall.
Reacting to this, Oyediran argued that they had the capacity to produce syringes and needles needed in the country, adding that NAFDAC might be relying on old data.
He said they export their syringes and needles to other West African countries because they were the largest manufacturer of syringes in Africa.
“The syringes needed in Nigeria is between two billion to 2.5 billion annually. All the seven local manufacturers have the capacity to produce 1.95 billion a year.
“If we have the support of the government, they will scale up and would be able to produce all the demands in a matter of months. The quality is world class. The quality is not questionable.
“We have the capacity to produce syringes and needles needed in the country. There is no doubt about that. One of the manufacturers in Nigeria – the Jubilee Syringe, which I am the managing director. We are the largest manufacturer of syringes in Africa. We have just been approached by other countries in West Africa to import our syringes to them. So we have the capacity.
“You can come to our location in Akwa Ibom. We produce over 1.7 million syringes per day and six days a week.
“There is no reluctance of using locally made syringes by government institutions; I think it is just understanding and using old policy in our new age,” Oyediran noted.
Not satisfied with the treatment being meted out to MDMAN, the Senate Committee on Health has given the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire a six week matching order to develop a policy framework that would enable locally manufacturered syringes and needles to be used in the country.
Ibrahim Oloriegbe,chairman of the committee (APC, Kwara Central) said as a developing country, there was no sense in encouraging the importation of syringes and needles made in other countries.
He, therefore tasked Ehanire to come up with a specific policy that would save the local manufacturers of syringes and needles from collapse.
In his response, Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, said his ministry would soon come up with a policy that would mandate all Federal Government-owned health institutions in the country to procure and use only syringes and needles manufactured in Nigeria.
He told the panel that his ministry would ensure that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approves the policy within six weeks.
According to him, “We have listened to the position of the committee and we want to assure the chairman and other distinguished members that we will come up with the policy and get approval from the Federal Executive Council within six weeks as suggested by the committee.
“We are in support of the move to encourage local manufacturing of syringes and needles because it is the best way to create jobs and take Nigerians out of poverty.
“We are all interested in developing local capacities to encourage local manufacturers is an item on the agenda of the president to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.”
