Chijioke Iremeka
Pharmaceutical experts and stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry have decried the harsh economic reality mitigating against the industry and blamed it on the reason why Nigerians are embracing alternative medicine for treatment.
They called on the Federal Government to ensure a favourable manufacturing atmosphere and easy access to forex for the importation of pharmaceutical products.
Alternative medicine or complementary medicine, according to the World Health Organisation, refers to a broad set of healthcare practices that are not part of a country’s tradition or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant healthcare system.
The former Secretary, the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter, Okotie Jonah, said many sick people are currently seeking for alternative medicines to treat themselves due to the paucity of drugs.
He said certain critical drugs are gradually disappearing from the drug stores’ shelves due to a lack of manufacturing occasioned by the unavailability of dollars and high exchange rate.
Jonah, who was a member of a committee set by the Association to investigate the reason drugs were going off the shelf, noted that the development in the pharmaceutical sector has affected the importation of drugs and raw materials, thereby pushing the sick to alternative medicines.
He said, “I was in the committee set up by the chairman to look at the reasons some drugs are leaving the shelf. And these were the things we submitted long before GSK threw in the towel. We realised that GSK was just one out of many companies affected by this exchange rate. The exchange rate is killing the pharmaceutical sector.
“When you go out there, you buy products in dollars and sell them in Nigeria in naira. When you sell in naira, you will still go back to restock with dollars. The dollar is not available except you have to go to the parallel market where the dollar goes to the highest bidder. So, how long will this continue and how long can a company continue to do this, especially when the increase can’t be transferred to end users?
“So, instead of staking this, GSK went back to its country. It was like a cycle. It also happened sometime in the past and some multinationals left the country. GSK realised that all her sales in Nigeria and other African countries put together didn’t match its sales in Belgium and pulled out.
“GSK’s exit is going to affect us in many ways. Look at the Ventolin inhaler which is a life-saver for people with Asthma crisis. And when you don’t see an inhaler to use during the Asthma crisis, you will be staring at death. Is there anyone you know that you would like to go through such stress?
“It doesn’t make sense. Our society should not put itself in this type of situation. The inhaler is a quick-relief drug. It belongs to a class of drugs known as bronchodilators. It works by relaxing the muscles around the airways so that they open up and you can breathe more easily.
“I know a particular pharmacist, who imported apparatus for blood glucose check on credit, and by the time he was to pay the pack, the dollar had gone up,’ he couldn’t meet up with the obligations. As I speak now, the company has gone under.
“And unfortunately, we don’t have anybody that would cushion the effect for us. The same thing happened to another company that imported anti-malarial drugs. Today, it has gone under too. This is a misfortune for the importers alone, then what about the masses that are at the receiving end?”
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, Bloom Public Health, Professor Chimezie Anyakora, who spoke during Nigerian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Capacity Building Training, held in Lagos, said the training brought together global experts to address key issues within Nigeria’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
The training, which was championed by Bloom Public Health, was held in partnership with National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, through the World Bank-funded IMPACT initiative.
The training aimed at repositioning the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry as an independent and significant player in the global space.
Prof. Anyakora, who bemoaned the beggarly disposition of Nigeria to the international community, said instead of supporting the pharmaceutical sector with funds, most of the aid comes in the form of medicines, which may not have the desired impact, hence the need for the country to chart a new course toward becoming independent in terms of manufacturing capacity.
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