…as local drugs constitute only 29% of registered drugs in 2016
Drug makers in Nigeria want a continuation of the 2016 Fiscal Policy as only 29 percent of human drugs and biological/ vaccines registered by the Federal Government last year were produced locally.
“It is important we continue with the 2016 Fiscal Policy to encourage local production of medicines. The number of imported medicines, when compared with locally manufactured ones in 2016, is not encouraging,” said Okey Akpa, chairman, Pharmaceutical Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN).
Data computed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on registered drugs in 2016 show that only 364 locally made human drugs were granted registration by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The data also show that no local manufacturer registered any vaccine or biological in 2016, which is interpreted to mean that Nigeria does not yet manufacture this set of drugs.
However, out of 1,851 applications received by NAFDAC for the registration of imported human medicines, the agency granted registration to 852 of them. Also, out of 86 applications received by NAFDAC for the registration vaccines and biologicals, the agency approved the registration of 35 of them. This puts the percentage of locally produced medicines registered in 2016 at 29.09 percent.
Similarly, the Federal Government recently released the Fiscal Policy, where an Import Adjustment Tax (IAT) of 20 percent was placed on some finished imported medicines in HS Code 3004. These comprise drugs which can evidently be produced by local manufacturers. The government, in a circular, banned the importation of liquid dietary supplements and medicament such as paracetamol tablets and syrup, chloroquine tablets and syrup, among others.
Products like Insulin (HS Code 3004.3100.00) were left at zero percent import duty, because there is currently little or no capacity to produce it locally. This action was taken to redress the imbalances created by the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET), which places zero tariff on finished medicines but five to 20 percent duty on packaging and raw materials of pharmaceuticals.
Paul Opara, CEO of Chemiron pharmaceuticals, said the drugs that are imported may likely be those that do not have local substitutes or, if locally produced, are not adequate in number.
“Importation of foreign drugs affects our locally produced drugs. Nigerians are doing well in the production of locally made medicines, because they have to compete. If the drugs are not doing what they ought to do, NAFDAC will not register them ,” Opara said.
Nigeria has over 100 local drug makers with an estimated investments of N300 billion.
Four of them—Swiss Pharma, Evans, Chi Pharmaceuticals and May & Baker– have achieved the World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalification, which qualifies them to supply drugs to global organisations.
Nigeria pharmaceutical companies import most of their inputs owing to the absence of petrochemical industries that will produce them locally. Dollar scarcity has raised the cost of their raw materials, prompting them to demand a special allocation from the central bank, which authorises local manufacturers to have access to 60 percent of dollars available in the open market.
Frank Jacobs, president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), urges President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure availability of petrochemical industries to reduce pressure on foreign exchange market and make life easier for local drug firms.
In a statement presented to Buhari, Jacobs said petrochemical industries would turn around the fortunes of many sub-sectors just as virile Ajaokuta will spearhead revolution in the steel su-sector in Nigeria.
