The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye has said Nigerians are over-dependent on importation.
According to the NAFDAC Boss, the excessive reliance of Nigerians on importation of raw materials and finished goods has affected the availability of basic medical supplies in the country even as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
Dr. Mojisola who spoke during a live programme on Channels Television said the only thing not imported by Nigerians in the Pharmaceutical and drug sector is water.
The NAFDAC Boss said further; “We were over-dependent. The only thing that the pharmaceutical companies do not import is water. The ingredients are not there and you cannot manufacture ingredients, whether active or non-active in the country without support from the government. You cannot set up active pharmaceutical industries without training the personnel; without having solid science foundation.
But that is changing at the moment. We have two or three companies now that are going to be making some pharmaceutical ingredients”
Dr. Mojisola also noted that although importation has its benefits, it may have become the worst thing to happen to Nigeria.
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The NAFDAC DG thereafter called for the need for local production of medical supplies to increase in the country saying she sees a better future for the medical sector in the country because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I actually see a brighter future for Nigeria because COVID-19 woke us up from our comatose state as a country. The health sector was neglected for decades and what the Buhari administration is doing right now is phenomenal.”