Encomiums have continued to pour in for the management of New Heights Pharmaceuticals (NHP), following the company’s procurement of two state-of-the-art cooling chambers to boost its supply chain.
The official commissioning of the faculty, which took place at the company’s head office in Maryland, Lagos on 9 November 2018, had a large turnout of pharma personalities.
Speaking with Pharmanews, Pharm. Paul Enebeli, chairman, board of directors, New Heights Pharmaceuticals, explained that the distribution of thermolabile pharmaceuticals had been a major challenge in the country for too long.
“What we have now is, at best, the solution for adequate separation of thermolabile products, vaccines and others. This goes to show that we at New Heights Pharmaceuticals are thinking about the future.
“We keep trying to task ourselves to open new paradigms. This is one of our efforts to ensure that our customers are satisfied in all ramifications of pharmacy practice. We want to assure all that New Heights will continue to raise the bar in pharma distribution in Nigeria,” he reassured.
Pharm. Olabanji Benedict Obideyi, chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Lagos State chapter, seemed to be in agreement with him when he said that if the pedigree of NHP was anything to go by, the wholesaling outfit’s acquisition of the cooling chambers was not unexpected.
“I think it will further help to upgrade the quality of service they have been known to render to the retail outlets. Unlike the refrigerators used by some pharmacists, most of the vaccines and other products at New Heights’s disposal will obviously now be kept at a required temperature.
“The good thing about this is that one can easily track the temperature at which those items are kept over a long period of time. I want to encourage other pharma outlets to emulate what NHP has done,” he stated.
While congratulating the New Heights management for putting up such facility, Obideyi posited that the effort was highly commendable.
Similarly, Pharm. Jonah Okotie, secretary, ACPN-Lagos, remarked that he found the introduction of the cooling chambers quite beneficial.
“Coming from New Heights, I cannot really say it is a surprise. This is because they have been known over time in terms of quality and setting the pace when it comes to pharma wholesaling activity in Nigeria.
“Therefore I see this as another addition to the excellence they are known for. I want to assure everyone out there that anything they are getting from New Heights – be it vaccines or cold chain products – is of best quality,” he reassured.
Okotie declared that the ACPN was proud to identify with the project and further encouraged other members of the association to borrow a leaf from the laudable innovation.
According to Adeshina Opanubi, project catalyst of Pharmalliance, Nigeria’s premier retail pharmacy business network, the cooling chamber was a landmark investment worthy of commendation.
“Being a network that has about 100 stores, our members sometimes have issues guaranteeing the integrity of the cold chain products procured from suppliers. But with this innovation, our members can now go to sleep, knowing that the products they procure are of the highest quality and integrity,” he stressed.
Furthermore, Pharm. Ogheneochuko Omaruaye, chief executive officer of New Heights, explained that the multimillion naira investment was in response to the huge gap identified in the cold chain management system in Nigeria.
“Prior to this investment, although we had a standard cold chain system, the management decided to adopt international best practices by further acquiring these new cold chain chambers,” he disclosed.
Continuing, Omaruaye said that the development was a critical first step in a deliberate journey to becoming the leader in cold chain distribution systems in Nigeria.
“The vision is to commit further investments into cold chain management so that the integrity of vaccines, thermolabile products and biologics can be guaranteed,” he emphasised.
, following the company’s procurement of two state-of-the-art cooling chambers to boost its supply chain.){kind=link}