Nigeria's state minister for health, Hon. Joseph Ekwumankama, expressed his displeasure with the situation at an international scientific workshop organised by the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (WAPC) and the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD).
According to Ekwumankama, all active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in manufacturing medicines in Nigeria are imported from India, China, the United States, and Germany. He lamented that this practice was taking a massive toll on Nigeria’s scarce foreign exchange and suggested that the importation of APIs will henceforth cease to enable Nigeria to leverage the possibilities that abound for it in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“The situation where no single pharmaceutical company 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 lamented that despite deliberate and direct funding interventions, large segments of the Nigerian population still lack access to quality medicines and healthcare provision.