Lagos—The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised the alarm over the low demand for locally produced medical syringes.
The agency said the nation’s preference for importation was negatively impacting local manufacturing of the medical essentials.
NAFDAC was reacting to the discovery of over 1.5 billion unsold units of the product in one local factory alone.
Its Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, noted that the situation was disappointment because the quality of facilities in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical companies was at par with those in the United States or European countries.
The NAFDAC boss urged the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) to put machinery in motion to curb the importation of syringes.
In a statement by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, Prof. Adeyeye stressed the need for ANLCA to prioritise the nation’s interests over personal gains in playing their roles as clearing agents at the nation’s ports.
The NAFDAC boss spoke when she hosted the newly inaugurated executives of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), led by its National President, Mr. Emenike Nwokochi, at the agency’s Lagos corporate office.
Adeyeye said the standard of the facilities she met on ground was comparable to whatever facility that could be found in the U.S. or any country in Europe.
The NAFDAC boss said after the facility tour and checking the warehouse, she was disturbed at the sight of so many unsold products.
She told her guests that over 1.5 billion units of the product were lying untouched in the warehouse due to low sales, exacerbated by the influx of imported syringes into the country, despite the high import duty slammed on the product to protect the local market.
Adeyeye expressed concern that intelligence reaching her indicated that there was an illegal importation of unregistered containers of syringes into the country.
Also, the Federal Government has held a meeting with needles and syringes manufacturers in Nigeria to reduce the cost of producing pharmaceutical products.
The meeting was presided over by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite.
Following the closed-door session, Alausa told reporters that they had a fruitful discussion with needle and syringe manufacturers.
He added that there were five companies still operating in the country dedicated to the production of needles and syringes.
Alausa said the meeting was convened in accordance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to decrease the expenses associated with pharmaceutical products and medical supplies in the country.
He said: “That was why this meeting was quickly held. We explored and discussed many practical solutions where we can begin to have some quick wins, some immediate solutions that will be incorporated into the Executive Order that the President has asked us to work on as well as the medium term solutions and long term solutions on how we can get this problem permanently and completely resolved.”
