Govt to boost drug production with N200b

A N200 billion bailout fund is being packaged for manufacturers of pharmaceutical products by the Federal Government.

The beneficiaries are to use the grant to improve local drug manufacturing and build their capacity to participate in international building process.

The government’s effort is being boosted by the British government through the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), which has invested N5.2 billion (£21 million) in the pharmaceutical industry.

The British fund is being used to enhance the production of health commodities such as essential drugs and medical consumables, laboratory equipment and teaching aids for health organisations in Enugu, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, and Lagos states.

It is the belief of the two countries that the proper management of the funds would ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality drugs in Nigeria.

At a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, the National Programme Manager of the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems, Phase Two (PATHS2), which is funded by DFID, Mike Egboh, said the forum would enable manufacturers to brainstorm on ways to promote investment in local drug production and improve sustainable drugs supply in Nigeria.

The Director of Food and Drug Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Bridget Okala, who disclosed the N200 billion loan drug producers, said it was through the support of PATHS2 that the National Drug Policy was developed and was being implemented.

PATHS2 is a six-year development initiative that aims to ensure that Nigeria achieves health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Egboh said the N5.2 billion aid by Britain was one of the largest investments in the procurement of drugs and equipment in Nigeria’s health sector since the time of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in the late 90s.