Nigeria’s dependence on imported ingredients to produce medicines could threaten the country’s medicine security, particularly during global supply disruptions.
This was a major concern raised by stakeholders at a meeting on “Accelerating the shift to domestic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) production for priority essential medicines in Nigeria,” organised by Nigeria Health Watch in partnership with the World Bank Group in Abuja on Friday.
Speaking at the meeting, Olumide Okunola of the World Bank Group said Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers rely heavily on imported APIs, leaving the country vulnerable to disruptions in international supply chains.
APIs are the substances in medicines that produce their intended therapeutic effects. Although Nigeria has pharmaceutical companies that manufacture finished medicines, many depend on imported APIs and other raw materials to produce them.
Mr Okunola said the dependence exposes local manufacturers to international supply-chain disruptions, trade restrictions and price volatility, potentially affecting the availability and affordability of essential medicines.
He cited the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how disruptions to global supply chains can expose countries that depend heavily on imported medicines and pharmaceutical inputs.
He said Nigeria did not need to produce every pharmaceutical ingredient locally, but should identify essential APIs that could feasibly be manufactured in the country to guarantee a minimum level of domestic supply.
Okunola also identified inadequate infrastructure, unreliable electricity, limited access to finance and regulatory bottlenecks as constraints to local pharmaceutical production.
He said Nigeria could build on its existing industrial and petrochemical capacity to develop domestic production of selected pharmaceutical ingredients.
He urged policymakers to align health and industrial policies, prioritise APIs used in essential medicines and create an environment that encourages private investment in local manufacturing.
Also speaking, Chris Isokpunwu, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said Nigeria’s dependence on external sources for critical pharmaceutical inputs undermines its ability to guarantee sustainable health security.
“Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable health security while remaining heavily dependent on external sources for critical pharmaceutical inputs,” he said.
Mr Isokpunwu said domestic production of pharmaceutical ingredients should be treated not only as a health-sector priority but also as an economic and industrial development opportunity.
He said local production could strengthen the resilience of medicine supply chains, reduce exposure to international disruptions and foreign exchange pressures, create skilled jobs and retain more economic value within the country.
However, he cautioned against pursuing local production without considering quality, efficiency and affordability.
“We must, however, be careful not to pursue local production at any cost,” he said.
“Our objective must be to produce efficiently, meet internationally recognised quality standards, compete on price and reliability, and progressively integrate into regional and global pharmaceutical value chains.”
Speaking at the meeting, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), Abdu Mukhtar, said the initiative was working with local pharmaceutical manufacturers to identify and prioritise APIs based on Nigeria’s public health needs.
Mukhtar, who was represented by Zara Abba-Aji, said the initiative was also working with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority on excipient manufacturing and exploring ways to improve access to capital and technical expertise for local production.
He said PVAC was engaging a local manufacturer to facilitate access to European Investment Bank financing and technical support, including technology transfer, to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity.
He also highlighted the initiative’s pooled procurement platform, MediPool, which he said was designed to stimulate demand for locally manufactured medicines.
Earlier, Vivianne Ihekweazu, managing director of Nigeria Health Watch, said the availability of affordable and quality medicines was central to improving healthcare outcomes and strengthening the country’s health system.
Mrs Ihekweazu said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the risks of relying heavily on external supply chains for essential medicines and other health products.
She also expressed concern about the slow progress in implementing the federal government’s executive order to increase local production of healthcare products.
