By Folasade Akpan

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, has assured Nigerians that very soon reliance on importation of pharmaceutical products would drastically reduce.

He gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja, at a high-level dialogue to “Address the Technology Gaps in Nigeria’s Pharmaceutical and Vaccine Industries”.

The dialogue was organised by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to Alausa, the assertion is based on the steps taken so far on the implementation of the National Plan for Vaccine Research and Development and Local Production 2024-2034, which was inaugurated in February.

He said that the national plan which had adopted a mixed method approach was developed to address the insufficiency Nigeria and other African countries suffered due to the lack of locally made vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You will recall that COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise, the impact was felt globally, including in most advanced countries.

“The lessons from the pandemic cannot be forgotten in a hurry, including the scramble for COVID-19 vaccines by developed nations.

“As you’re aware, Nigeria, like many other African countries, was affected due to inability to manufacture vaccines locally.

“In the light of this, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, went ahead to develop a vaccine policy in order to be proactive in achieving sustainable local manufacturing of vaccines.

“The national plan is embedded with nine change strategies for prioritisation in order to achieve sustainable local manufacturing of vaccines in Nigeria.

“Two among these nine change strategies are clearly reflected in the objective of this event. One of the change strategies is about intellectual property while the other is technology sophistication and knowledge transfer. “

He also said that the dialogue brought together relevant stakeholders to synthesise ideas and solutions for the robust and contextual strategies that would expedite technology transfer for local manufacturing of medicine and vaccines.

“This approach will provide a strong foundation that support harnessing of local capacity to meet the health care needs of the population.

“The intervention also stimulates local research and development activities for pharmaceuticals and other healthcare commodities.”

The Chief Executive Officer of APTF, Prof. Padmashere Sampath, said that a lot of reasons were responsible for low availability and high prices of pharmaceutical products in Nigeria.

She added that lack of domestic producers, who could produce in ample quantities, was one of the primary reasons, making it impossible to have the kind of competition that would help crash prices of commodities.

“A second reason is that a lot of drugs currently being sold in the Nigerian market are sold by international producers and these producers either sell patented versions of the drugs or maybe branded generics.

“They are more expensive than what will be the case if you produce them domestically.

“So by building domestic capacity, introducing new firms, having competition in the market, we can actually increase availability and reduce price at the same time.

“This is helpful for economic development because the pharmaceutical sector can employ a lot of people.

“It’s the backbone of the industrial economy, but it’s also very good for public health.” she added.

Sampath also said that having drugs at lower prices frees up public health budget to help the health systems become more robust for pandemic preparedness.

This, according to her, would enable people to be treated and give better resilience to the healthcare system.

On his part, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, the Senior Special Advisor to the President, African Development Bank, said the solution was to ensure industrialisation in the sector.

According to him, health security cannot be outsourced.

He advised that companies willing to produce drugs in Nigeria should be given the right and requisite support to produce the drugs needed in the country.

“So it shouldn’t just be a problem for us, it should be opportunities for this country to solve its own problems and grow its own skills.

“We believe that if we all come together, we can solve this problem and in the next three or four years, we should have so many companies actually producing the drugs that we require,” he said.

Also, the Director-General of NIPRD, Dr Obi Adigwe, said that it was predicated in the national plan that at least three companies, should emerge during the 10-year period of the plan.

He added that presently, there were already three companies that have indicated interest and based on past records of those companies, they would successfully manufacture vaccines within the next 24 to 36 months.

“So it is for us to enhance our activities to be sure that their support is contextual and enable them to reach that target.

“So for the future, we’re looking at leading the charge to coordinate science and research and development to enable policies support the industry.

“This will enable us to get at least three local vaccines manufacturing entities in Nigeria within the next three to five years.

“I am very confident that the policy ecosystem will enable us reach that target of three manufacturing entities in half the time that the plan sets out.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting’s objective is to enable national stakeholders make developmental contributions to the national assessment programme to measure the technology gaps in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector, including vaccines. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

By Folasade Akpan

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the introduction of Multiple Micronutrient Supplement (MMS) for pregnant women in Nigeria will reduce high rate of maternal and infant mortality.

The fund’s Chief of Nutrition, Nemat Hajeebhoy, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in 2020 stood at 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births, making it one of the countries with the highest MMR globally.

NAN reports that the Federal Government, has, however, taken steps to transit from Iron and Folic Acid Supplements (IFAs) to MMS for pregnant women to ensure better birth outcomes.

The Federal Government adopted the use of MMS based on the 2020 WHO recommendation on antenatal care for positive pregnancy experience.

This led to the inclusion of MMS for pregnant women in the “National Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Micronutrients Deficiencies Control in Nigeria” for improved pregnancy outcomes, compared to IFAs supplementation.

Hajeebhoy said if a mother is healthier, then the chance of death during pregnancy and birth reduces.

According to her, one of the worries of public health and nutrition practitioners is the high rate of maternal, neonatal and infant mortality, a situation which can be reversed through MMS.

She added that with MMS, the proportion of children born small for gestational age reduces and there is reduced risk of pre-term and stillbirth babies.

“Similarly, if a child is born healthy, then the probability that the child will die within the first few days of life or even within the first year is significantly reduced.

“So, if we want to preserve the health of our women and children in Nigeria, especially in those early years and days, then this is what I would call a best buy in public health.

“We also know that if a mother is not nourished, there is the risk of her having a preterm baby or a stillbirth.

“The first 1,000 days from pregnancy to the time the child is two years of age is a very important period in terms of growth as human beings and I don’t just mean physical growth, but also mental growth.

“When a woman is pregnant, she needs to preserve her health so that the child in the uterus can be healthy. So, MMS gives her that boost and all the vitamins and minerals she needs.”

She also said that if a child growing in the uterus does not get enough nutrients, the child is small for the gestational age, which means the child is already malnourished in the womb, but with MMS, such situation is prevented.

The chief of nutrition said there is also a reduction in low birth weight because babies born with low birth weight (less than 2.5 kilogrammes) are at higher risk of infection and even potential death.

She explained that when a woman gets pregnant, her body is supporting two lives and she needs different types of nutrients to develop well, hence the transition from IFAs to MMS.

She further explained that “one of the most important nutrient a woman needs when she’s pregnant is iron, and for the child to develop, she needs folic acid.

“So, over time, the world came up with IFAs and that was the basis for the pill — MMS, for pregnant women for many years to ensure that their health is preserved and their child is healthy.

“IFAs contains iron and folic acid but one MMS pill contains 15 different vitamins and minerals. It contains IFA, but it also contains other vitamins such as B12, many B vitamins and many other good nutrients.

“What we’re realising is that women in general need the multiple nutrients not just the two, but the 15, and we have observed globally that birth outcomes of women given MMS better than those given the IFAs.”

She added that due to these reasons the world was trying to slowly but gradually transit from IFAs to MMS, adding that in many of the high income countries, they have already moved to MMS.

The chief said UNICEF and other partners are working with the Federal Government at all levels to ensure that the supplements are widely available and accepted in the country.

She said that the organisation was working with the government to develop the step by step processes on how to transit appropriately.

Also, Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, the Director of Nutrition, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said that according to the 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), about 61 per cent of pregnant women in Nigeria were anemic which has an impact on the unborn child.

She, however, said that WHO in 2020 recommended that countries should transit from the use of IFAs to MMS to improve pregnancy outcomes.

“Then in Nigeria in 2021, the National Guideline on Micronutrient Deficiency Control was revised, which included MMS for pregnant women through the antenatal care platform.

“So, every woman that goes for antenatal care will be provided with MMS.”

She, however, said that the Federal Government was not phasing out IFAs, as it  would still be accessible for pregnant women at health facilities when they go for antenatal care.

“However, we are now doing a gradual transition from IFAs to MMS and we are starting in batches.

“So, we are currently carrying out implementation research in Bauchi State, but government has plans to carry out the implementation research in all the six geopolitical zones.”

Bako-Aiyegbusi said that the data collection tool has just been pre-tested in some communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and that in March, the ministry in collaboration with one of its partners would be going to some communities in Oyo and also in FCT to interface and get evidence.

The evidence gathering, she said, would be on how ready the pregnant women are to accept the MMS.

She added that collaborations were ongoing on how to carry out the research in other geo-political zones of the country.

She also said that just like the IFAs were distributed free of charge to pregnant women in public healthcare facilities, MMS would also be dispensed free when  fully operational.

Bako-Aiyegbusi added that pregnant women would be expected to take the tablet once daily for 180 days in the course of the pregnancy.  (NAN) www.nannews.ng

Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

By Lucy Ogalue

The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), is partnering with the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation (APTF) to address gaps in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical and vaccine sectors.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports on Sunday that the partnership is in line with the Presidential Initiative to unlock the health sector value chain.

According to a source, both organisations are set to organise a High-Level Meeting on March 18 to March 19, aimed at driving the purpose.

“The one -day High Level Dialogue is targeted at identifying and addressing sector-wide contextual technology gaps in pharma, vaccines, and related industries.

“It will be followed by a technical session expected to strengthen public health-oriented patent guidelines and intellectual property (IP) policies.

“It has an overall goal of achieving sustainable local manufacturing of medicines and vaccines in Nigeria,” the source said.

NAN gathered from the source that the High-Level Dialogue and the Technical Session to be held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja will be attended by the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa.

The source said that international delegations from several countries, including Rwanda and Cote D’Ivoire had also confirmed attendance to the event.

“Notable among confirmed delegates are Prof Padmashree Sampath, the Chief Executive of the APTF and Prof Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, the Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation at the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“The Nigerian Team will be led by Dr Obi Adigwe, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIPRD.”

“Other dignitaries include the Senate Committee Chair for Health, Sen. Ipalibo Banigo and Dr Yanko Yordanov  the Amb. of Bulgaria to Nigeria, among others.

According to the source, the meeting will discuss critical themes, including the best ways to measure technology gaps in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical and vaccine sectors.

The source said policy options to address private sector development, strengthening public sector engagement, and the exploration of existing intellectual property laws and policies would be deliberated.

The source said other areas include patent and related capacities for assessment of health technologies; and a review of the implementation of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) flexibilities at the national level for Nigeria.

“The event will promote discussions and deliberations among key stakeholders from the private sector and key public sector institutes and national agencies.

“ It also includes capacity building activities for all stakeholders while exploring peer review, country exchange initiatives and collaboration growth opportunities.

“The event will set the stage for a longer programme on technology needs assessment to build Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector for which the APTF will partner with NIPRD and the Federal Ministry of Health,” the source said.

NAN reports that NIPRD is a government agency under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

The Institute was established to enhance the development and commercialisation of health products such as phytomedicines, pharmaceutical inputs, drugs, and biological products, including vaccines from Nigeria’s indigenous natural resources.

The APTF is an independent regional agency established in Kigali, Rwanda, by the AfDB .

It aims to support African pharmaceutical companies to build technological capacity to diversify their product baskets, and enhance access to technological know-how of manufacturing products and processes.

The APTF also aims to strengthen the capacity of local research and development ecosystems, including through skills building to support the creation of new knowledge in the domestic pharmaceutical sector. (NAN)

Edited by Ese E. Eniola Williams