The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi , said the state has embarked on a process to establish a drug manufacturing agency to promote access to quality and consumable drugs.
Abayomi disclosed this during the opening of the 7th Nigerian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Exhibition in Lagos on Wednesday.
Reports has it that the two-year programme , jointly organized by PMG-MAN and GPE Expo PVT. Ltd, is Central and West Africa’s largest comprehensive pharmaceutical manufacturing exhibition. The exhibition, whose theme was Promoting partnership and innovation to unlock the pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain in Nigeria, Central and West Africa?, brought together 55 Chinese and Indian companies and 100 PMG-MAN members.
He said: “The Lagos State Government has already drafted a Drug Management Agency Bill, it will be submitted to the cabinet and forwarded to the Lagos House of Assembly.
“Many states have done this. We are lagging behind because we have so many industrial platforms in Lagos and Ogun states, and most of these drugs are manufactured nearby.
“This will enable Lagos not only to promote local production but also to promote the idea of total quality assurance, including random testing together with NAFDAC, and establish collaboration with the private sector.”
He praised PMG-MAN for supporting the desire to stimulate local production for self-sufficiency in medicines in the country. The commissioner urged local manufacturers to adopt global best practices, adding that drug safety and national security adequacy were essential to our survival as a country.
“Today represents another one of those times where you make it clear to all stakeholders and policy makers that this is what you need to drive this industry of local self-sufficiency in the health sector and the pharmaceutical industry.
“In doing so, we must ensure that we do not put our citizens at risk because a substandard drug can cause serious morbidity, illness or death,” he said.
