Maternal and fetal effects of nutritional deficiency in pregnant women have been identified as the major causes of unsafe pregnancy and maternal mortality in Nigeria. These assertions were made in Lagos on Wednesday June 25, 2014 by Bayo Adepoju, a pharmacists and lead consultant, Ssales to Medheights Pharmacy Limited.
In a 42-page media presentation to announce the product distribution partnership agreement between Medheights Pharmacy and one of the world leading pharmaceutical companies Vitabiotics UK, various factors and avoidable errors that make pregnant women in Nigeria and most other developing countries susceptible to maternal death, infertility, abnormalities in new born etc were highlighted.
The occasion, which was also used to present to the Nigerian public the three brands of Pregnacare products in Nigeria, emphasized the medicinal values of micronutrient supplementation before conception, during pregnancy and throughout breast-feeding period. The sole franchise ownership for marketing and distribution of the products has been granted to Medheights Pharmacy Limited.
The brands being directly imported into Nigeria are: Pregnacre Original (used during pregnancy; Pregnacare Plus Omega (used during breastfeeding); and Pregnacare Conception (used to enhance conception for women).
Explaining the reasons for introducing the UK made brands in Nigeria, Managing Director of Medheights Pharmacy, Tunji Doherty said, “hitherto, what we had in Nigeria, were the Pregnacare brands made and packaged outside the UK; Nigerians who traveled to Europe now discovered that the package being sold to Nigerians were different to what was being sold in the home country where the trademark owners are. So this knowledge started affecting negatively the psych of the consumers and sales. The products were also being imported by all kinds of merchants into the market.”
“We met with the makers and raised all these concerns and the dangers therein especially as it concerns counterfeiting and safe motherhood in Nigeria, and entered into business relationship to be the sole franchise owners of all the premium Pregnacare brands in Nigeria. This has enabled us to structure the marketing and distribution channels. We have also secured NAFDAC numbers for the brands in order to avoid faking or cloning and therefore, guarantees the product consumption for safe motherhood”, Doherty disclosed
In the presentation, Adepoju emphasized that conception period is a crucial phase in a woman’s life when the body undergoes a series of changes to create a suitable environment for the sustenance and growth of the fetus. “Fetal health and growth depends largely upon what the mother eats and how much is available to the fetus. This is what Vitabiotics UK is much concerned with as it wants to join the safe motherhood campaign of UNICEF in Nigeria”, he said.
Describing the brands, the trademark owners of Pregnancare have carefully produced the three brands as better supplementary options for expectant mothers, breastfeeding mothers and women desiring fruit of the womb. Knowing fully well that poverty and other factors such as ignorance, religious extremism etc hinders people in developing countries access to good and healthy living, balanced nutritional diets, Pregnacare has been prepared to reduce Fetal and maternal effects of nutritional deficiencies.
KEMI AJUMOBI
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