Towards accelerating local manufacturing of medical syringes in Nigeria, as well as improving the quality, the Federal Government says it is ready to ban importation of medical syringes into the country.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, made the disclosure at the weekend, when he called for a total ban on the importation of medical syringes into the country to encourage local production and help to grow the nation’s economy. This was corroborated by the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who revealed the agency’s stance on the issue, saying they had put an end to granting import authorisation to importers of medical syringes including the international partners.
She said NAFDAC issued the last import order to the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) in December 2023, with the instruction that they should begin to source medical syringes from local manufacturers thereafter, in order to provide employment opportunities to more Nigerians.
In a statement signed by the Resident Media Consultant of NAFDAC, Mr Sayo Akintola, Dr Alausa reaffirmed the determination of the Federal Government to provide the necessary support to the local manufacturing sector to enhance its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product GDP.
He affirmed that that the restructuring of syringe and needle production in Nigeria aims to guarantee the availability of high-quality products manufactured by Nigerians in the market to generate lucrative employment opportunities for Nigerians.
The minister, however, implored NAFDAC to ensure that unbridled importation of syringe does not hamper the development of the local industry through unhealthy competition. “Don’t give them any more authorisation to import. We need to protect the local industry through the backward integration model aimed at enhancing the local capacity,’’ he said.
Prof. Adeyeye, further explained that NAFDAC has halted syringe imports to promote locally made syringes. This suspension applies even to syringes previously imported by NAFDAC’s international partners. The goal is to shift the focus towards supporting domestic syringe manufacturing, she stated.
”However, for the local manufacturers, we are doing hand-holding with our syringe companies. Hand-holding, meaning we are working with them by correcting whatever we found wrong or inappropriate in their operations, adding that this initiative has started yielding positive dividends as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently requested for names of the three syringe manufacturing companies in Nigeria to do business with. She disclosed that the names were supplied to WHO and they have been contacted for guidance toward prequalification and eventual access of the products for use.
The NAFDAC DG however, advocated for a holistic approach to combatting the incidence of importation of substandard falsified medical devices into the country. She disclosed that some medical devices still come into the country with the aid of compromised officials at the ports. According to her, the government had already put high tariffs on the importation of syringes to discourage importation.
She, nevertheless, expressed regret that the system in the ports negates that policy. ”That is the problem. It’s going to be a holistic government approach to tackle the problem. It’s not something that only NAFDAC, SON, or Customs can do. It must be all-embracing”.
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