FG says Nigeria lacks Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, API, to be one of world’s manufactures of Vaccines.
Written by News Room on March 18, 2022
The Federal Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Thursday, said that Nigeria lacks Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, API, to be one of the world’s manufactures of Vaccines.
He stated that even though the ministry has been working seamlessly to facilitate vaccine production in Nigeria, the process has been stiffled with paucity of APIs in the country.
Speaking during a national symposium on how to make Nigeria self-dependent on the manufacture of antiretroviral medicines and Vaccines for HIV, COVID-19, organised by the INGO Third Sector Resource, in collaboration with African Business Roundtable and Phoenix Africa, the Minister, who was represented by the Director of Food and Drugs Services in the Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs Olubunmi Aribeana, urged the country to aim at becoming pharmaceutically independent and self-reliant to gain adequate local capacity to produce essential medical products and commodities.
The Minister of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo represented by the Deputy Director of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Mohammed Bala, in a bid to achieve a more developed health care sector in the production of vaccines, said it is developing a policy framework which would facilitate the manufacturing of drugs, conventional and herbal vaccine, medical instruments diagnostics in the country.
On his part, the Hon. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, represented by Pharm. David Erabhalemon, stated that it was high time the federal government encouraged the local manufacturing of APIs to make Nigeria less dependent on importation of pharmaceutical raw materials.
Seun Fakorede
