With an aim to transform the Nigeria’s health sector, the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) is set to establish the first pharmaceutical industrial park in Anambra State, therefore calls on the government to support the innovation for the growth of the country’s economy.
Despite the challenges facing manufacturers in the Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector and the difficult environment they operate, industry experts are still optimistic about the prospect.
The plan for the industrial park comes in line with Nigeria’s pharmaceutical manufacturing development strategy as a disruptive innovation capable of solving health problems, and expected to modernise the health management system and secure healthy pharmaceutical supply chain.
“The park would play a key role in availing the basic and essential medicines at local market, which is expected to attract the investors to join the park when it comes to completion,” said Ignatius Anukwu, NAIP’s national chairman at 2019 CEOs’ forum held recently in Lagos.
“While we improve on the capacity of what we produce in Nigeria, let us innovate, because it is by innovation that we can earn more and add more value,” he said.
The new pharmaceutical park is expected to meet the country’s demand for a continuous supply of required medicines for the citizens by adding value to the goal of a sustainable health reform for Nigerians.
Reflecting on Ethiopia’s pharmaceutical industrial park model, Chimezie Anyakora, a stakeholder in his presentation, said the government of Ethiopia considered pharmaceutical manufacturing a priority for its economic growth strategy.
“Kilinto Industrial Park is a state-of-the-art that has specialised pharmaceutical manufacturing, with all necessary infrastructures in Ethiopia; we have to make such happen here in Nigeria,” he said.
However, the Ethiopian pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at 15 percent per year to reach nearly $1 billion by 2020.
One of the possible solutions to the problem is to develop local manufacturing capacity and ensure that quality medicines produced nationally are more affordable than imported ones.
Also speaking during the forum, Sam Ohuabunwa, president, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), said NAIP had come in with it vision and plans even if the government was an issue, noting that the industry must also work with the government.
“Access to essential medicines is an integral component of universal health coverage. By 2025, the strategy aims to meet 50 percent of the local needs for essential medicines through local manufacturing,” Ohuabunwa said.
According to Ohuabunwa, it is important we keep moving in the pharm industry in proper value and direction, and we must have a change that is sustainable in the industry, because new things have been discovered and there is enough space to collaborate.
However, Vincent Okpala, Anambra State commissioner for health assured NAIP and the CEOs of pharmaceutical industry at the event that the state was ready to support the initiative, disclosing that the required hectares of land had already been allocated for that purpose at the Anambra State Industrial Park.
Meanwhile, the forum also recognise six CEOs – Valentina Ifeabunike of Oculus Pharmacare Limited, Folake Odediran, general manger, Rx and country chair Nigeria-Ghana for Sanofi, Matthew Azoji of Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc, Olugbenga Falabi of TIPTOP Nigeria Limited, Olakunle Oyelana, Glaxosmithkline Group, and Michael Heavens of Chan Medi-pharm Limited.
