STAKEHOLDERS have called for an urgent need to facilitate local manufacturing of Antiretroviral (ARVs) medicines and vaccines for People Living with HIV (PLHIVs) and other vaccine-preventable diseases, with an aim to supply local and international markets.
The stakeholders made this known in a communique issued at the National Symposium on how to make Nigeria self-dependent on the manufacture of Antiretroviral medicines and Vaccines for HIV, COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.
According to the stakeholders, there is an urgent need to strengthen the building blocks of Nigeria’s healthcare system with emphasis on indigenous production of vaccines and allied health materials, which the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) provides an opportunity to achieve.
The communique signed by the Coordinator and Secretary, Jamila Mohammed Kolo and C.K James, said it is important to formulate appropriate policies and implement them strictly, for the country to be self-reliant as opposed to the current excessive reliance on imported medicines.
It also reiterated the need to encourage the local manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) to make Nigeria less dependent on importation of pharmaceutical raw materials.
“Deliberate policies to boost health technology transfer should be formulated and implemented as soon as possible.
“A roadmap for local production of ARVs in Nigeria with timelines and peer review mechanisms be set up, as well as tax breaks, zero import duty and easier access to foreign exchange for the purchase of machinery and raw materials”.
Speaking, Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, represented who was represented by Dr Mrs Olubunmi Aribeins, of the Food and Drugs Services department Federal Ministry of Health, affirmed the commitment of the federal government to local production of vaccines to reduce dependence on international partners or importation.
Ehanire said the ministry has been working tirelessly to ensure it takes off and takes off fully to produce the much-needed vaccine in Nigeria.