Federal government has said Nigeria’s non production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is no longer tolerable.
The situation was condemned by the minister of state for health, Hon. Joseph Ekwumankama, during the International Scientific Workshop jointly organised by the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (WAPC) and the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, NIPRD.
Ekwumankama said all the APIs being used in the manufacturing of medicines in Nigeria were imported from India, China, the USA and Germany and lamented that such practice is taking a huge toll on Nigeria’s scarce foreign exchange and hinted that the importation of APIs will henceforth cease, to enable Nigeria leverage on the possibilities that abound for it in the areas of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“The situation where there is no single pharmaceutical company that produces any APIs or pharmaceutical excipients locally is no longer tolerable. All of the APIs used by the industries in Nigeria are imported from India, China, the USA and Germany, and large amounts of the country’s scarce foreign exchange earnings are spent on their importation,” stated the minister.”
The minister also decried the lack of access to quality medicines and healthcare provision to a large chunk of the Nigerian population despite the deliberate and direct funding intervention made to close the exposed gaps.
