Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has called on pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country to take advantage of the N100billion intervention fund by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and increase their production and manufacturing capacities.
President of PSN, Sam Ohuabunwa, who made the call in Lagos, said since COVID -19 has blown every assumption that the country was protected by global trade, things are not going to change after now.
Consequently, Ohuabunwa posited that every nation must be sure they have a fair level of self sufficiency in pharmaceutical production, and others.
He encouraged the manufacturers to increase their capacities both in length and breadth in therapeutic moieties and different dosage forms, which they have not been able to produce in the past. Urging the industry to rise up, he expressed the hope that after the pandemic, the country will have a booming industry that Nigeria can raise its head among the nations of the world and say “our pharmaceutical industry is developed and our healthcare system has moved some notches up. We have learnt not to travel abroad for healthcare tourism.”
It means we can survive in this country, Ohuabunwa said. He enjoined government not to relax after the pandemic or go back to its usual ways, “lets focus on our healthcare, ramp up local production, research and development, ramp up building our healthcare system both primary, secondary and tertiary levels, lets get the benefit of COVID 19.”
CBN had listed 10 pharmaceutical manufacturers to benefit from the N100billion funding facilities to cushion the effect of the COVID -19 on the sector. As at today, the apex bank is still assessing and approving applications, as more proposals are still being submitted, with the normal protocols and bureaucracies for lending money still in place.
