Nigerian drug firms lose out in global tenders

Alexander Chiejina | 30 Jul 2012
Businessday While the World Health Organisation (WHO), Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria, and other international agencies spend over 20billion dollars annually in procuring drugs for malaria, TB and AIDS intervention programmes in Nigeria from India and China, local drug manufacturers in the country are currently not in a position to participate in international tenders for medicines against the three pandemics. This is because no pharmaceutical firm in Nigeria is pre-qualified.

WHO pre-qualification is a prerequisite for any company that wants it and other international agencies to buy their drugs through bulk purchase for distribution for health intervention programmes across the globe.

Azubike Okwor, president, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), told BusinessDay in an interview that annually, life-saving medicines are purchased by or through international procurement agencies like UNICEF, UNFPA, UNITAID for health intervention programmes globally from pre-qualified pharmaceutical firms that meet international standards of quality, safety and efficacy, a situation that has deprived Nigeria from entering into international bidding process for pharmaceutical products, particularly from the WHO.

While Evans, SWIPHA, CHI Pharmaceuticals, May & Baker and Fidson Healthcare Pharmaceuticals are currently modifying their production processes with the intent of complying with WHO prequalification requirements, Okwor disclosed that in Africa, only South Africa, Morocco and Uganda have pre-qualified drug manufacturing companies and the right to sell pharmaceutical drugs to WHO and allied agencies.

According to Okwor, "WHO prequalification will help Nigeria become self-sufficient in the manufacture of essential medicines. This would obviously have multiplier effects on the Nigerian economy as it would lead to the creation of thousands of jobs and more foreign exchange earnings for the country.

"This, in turn, will reduce the plethora of challenges confronting the pharmaceutical sector such as counterfeiting of drugs and continued dependency on the importation of drugs and pharmaceutical inputs for drug production. There is the need for government to unearth the potential in the sector which would lead to job creation and economic boom."

Paul Orhii, director general, NAFDAC, has also advised drug manufacturers to embrace the WHO pre-qualification programme to enable drugs produced locally to meet international standards.

Orhii noted that locally produced drugs, if improved upon, would reduce the importation of counterfeit medicines into the country.

The NAFDAC boss stated that the agency went with 11 Nigeria pharmaceutical firms to WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, last year after an audit from the agency had endorsed them.

"The WHO requested that the companies submit their dossier. Seven companies were selected by WHO after the first audit. After the second audit, five companies (Evans, SWIPHA, CHI, May &Baker and Fidson) emerged with another one in line preparing for endorsement. Why it is taking long is because of the review and assessment of the dossier of the companies. But as far as good manufacturing practice is concerned, the correction is very minimal," Orhii said.

The pharmaceutical industry, experts believe, is one of the most valuable economic segments of the global economy. This, however, makes it expedient for the Federal Government to create the conducive environment that encourages higher investment and facilitate upgrading pharmaceutical facilities of the industry.

Recall that Onyebuchi Chukwu, minister of Health, recently assured the pharmaceutical firms seeking the Federal Government's support for the WHO's pre-qualification that government was ready to enforce the Procurement Act and to encourage purchase of drugs from local industries.

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