Whatever Nigerians may feel about the shortcomings of the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, one undeniable fact is that the successes recorded in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy since the agenda came on stream has positively altered the perception of the world about the country. Take for instance, the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2014 which acknowledges the significant improvements in Nigeria’s Doing Business Index in the last four years; or the swiftness with which the Federal Government contained the Ebola virus disease (EVD) scourge still devastating some West African countries. While the former is difficult to ignore, that latter has become a global reference, earning Nigeria plaudits from the international community.
Today, Nigeria’s global stature in the health sector has continued to soar. Early this year, a local pharmaceutical firm, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited (Swipha), became the first in West Africa to receive the World Health Organisation (WHO) Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) – an attestation of the transformation of the indigenous health sector under the leadership of a focused coordinator, Minister of Health Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu.
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on its part continues to sustain its critical role in the delivery of progressive healthcare services. Under Dr Paul B.Orhii’s leadership, the agency has relentlessly sourced and administered dynamic approaches towards boosting maximally, the competitiveness of our locally produced pharmaceutical products and production processes. Here, the underlying wisdom is that rather than allowing our country to remain an eternally dependent on foreign pharmaceutical products, the country should attain, sustain and retain an enviable and highly reputable status of world class drug exporting giant nation in Africa.
As the industry regulator, NAFDAC understands that Nigerian pharmaceutical companies have what it takes to obtain the GMP, which among other benefits would assist them to access the N200 billion intervention fund set up by the Jonathan administration to boost their production capacity and also enable them become global players in the industry. This is why it set itself the task of stimulating improvement of the quality of locally produced medicines and building of the capacity of local drug manufacturers via the WHO prequalification certification. The strategy would ensure that Nigerian pharmaceutical companies can access the over $300 billion global pharmaceutical market alongside pharmaceutical firms from United States of America, Japan, India, Germany, China, Europe etc.
Convinced of its need within the broader objective of ensuring international competitiveness of Nigerian pharmaceutical firms, the agency set up the machinery for country to play host to the WHO pre-qualification team in 2012. The team had earlier made an inspection tour of some indigenous drug production plants to ascertain their suitability for certification, at the end of which few firms were identified as showing potentials for the certification. An unrelenting NAFDAC management team thereafter set for itself the task of building the capacity of the manufacturers to succeed in the prequalification audit. The Orhii-led NAFDAC management team would later invite the WHO prequalification team to help monitor, fine tune and whip into line, potentially viable pharmaceutical companies.
This synergy yielded some positive results. In one of several visits, Swipha was assisted by WHO prequalification team to develop, document and produce medicines that could meet the quality standards required by WHO. In April 2014, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited (SWIPHA) received the WHO coveted good manufacturing practice (GMP) prequalification certification – a feat that would receive the acknowledgement of Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director General who commended Dr. Orhii for leading NAFDAC to achieve the spectacular feat of GMP certification by a Nigerian local pharmaceutical firm.
With the development, NAFDAC has lifted Nigeria out of the hitherto odious status of being a market for adulterated, substandard and fake pharmaceutical products. That her pharmaceutical products are of international standards is attested to by WHO GMP certification. The success of SWIPHA has served as impetus for more indigenous firms like May and Baker Plc, Fidson Healthcare, Neimeth etc to get enlistment into this privileged status. The WHO’s endorsement will no doubt further positively rub-off on local drug plants’ drive towards the production of quality products for both the local and international markets.
One man stands tall in the attainment of the feat: Dr Paul B. Orhii. The two-term NAFDAC-DG has justified the confidence reposed in him by President Jonathan in particular and Nigerians in general. Not even the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), which initially opposed Orhii’s candidacy for the position, could hold back its joy at SWIPHA’s GMP certification. While congratulating the management of SWIPHA on the achievement, the PSN said it was proud to identify with the success story, which it said was truly inspiring, having placed it in the privileged status of a player in the global pharmaceutical sector.
The Swipha endorsement is important in several respects. Aside helping to curb or eradicate the drug counterfeiting markets, it promises to save the nation the huge financial expenses previously spent on drug importation while at the same time boosting foreign exchange earnings for both the local drug manufacturers and the Federal Government. The citizenry is also assured of qualitative, effective and dependable healthcare services.
- Ikhilae, a Lagos-based public affairs analyst
