Local Production Of Drugs, Others Key To Nigeria’s Health Security – Minister

The coordinating minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has said that building Nigeria’s capacity to manufacture critical health products locally is central to strengthening the country’s health security.

The minister disclosed this at an event marking the commencement of commercial production of insecticide-treated nets by a local firm, Harvestfield Healthcare FZE, at its manufacturing facility in Ogun State, at the weekend.

According to Pate, the establishment of a Nigerian-based facility for the production of insecticide-treated nets represents the type of domestic manufacturing capacity the federal government seeks to develop under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said, “Building the capacity to manufacture our own health products is central to Nigeria’s health security.

“A Nigerian-based facility producing next-generation insecticide-treated nets to international standards, and already supplying programmes across 31 states, is the kind of capability the Renewed Hope agenda was created to build,” he said.

Also, Dr Abdul Mukhtar, the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), said the initiative was designed to help Nigeria move from importing healthcare products to producing them domestically.

“What matters is not only that a factory exists, but that it meets the standards international buyers accept and can supply at a national scale,” Mukhtar said.

He added that strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity was part of efforts to develop a more resilient healthcare value chain and reduce the country’s dependence on imported health products.

The development comes amid efforts by the Federal Government to expand local production of essential healthcare commodities and strengthen domestic capacity across the health sector.