Towards improving pharmaceutical supplies through the use of technology, the Nassarawa State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Medsaf, an end-to-end pharmaceutical platform, for the distribution of quality medications in the country.
The historic event, which took place at a breakfast meeting organised by ARC_ESM, was attended by key stakeholders from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN), seven states commissioners for health, supply chain experts, as well as industry experts, who brainstormed on the various levels of partnership needed in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria.
Some of the dignitaries that graced the high-powered meeting were Commissioner for Health, Niger State, Dr Makusidi Muhammad; Commissioner for Health, Kaduna State, Dr Amina Mohammed Baloni; Commissioner for Health, Yobe State, Dr Muhammad Lawan Gana; Commissioner for Health, Nasarawa State, Pharm. Ahmed Baba Yahaya; Commissioner for Health, Sokoto State, Dr Muhammad Ali Inname; Commissioner for Health, Ekiti State and Chairperson, Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum, Dr Oyebanji Filani; Commissioner for Health, Gombe State, Dr Habu Dahiru; Acting Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Monica Eimunjeze; CEO/MD, Fidson Healthcare Plc and Chairman PMG-MAN, Dr Fidelis Ayebae and Founder/CEO, Medsaf, Vivian Nwakah.
Shortly after signing the three-year MoU, the Commissioner for Health, Nasarawa State, Pharm. Yahaya, described the partnership as a marriage that will be sustainable for many years to come. He assured Medsaf that the state government will provide the company with available database and support to guarantee the success of the agreement.
“We have our gap needs, and we see that Medsaf has quite several coverages that will close the gaps. The more satisfactory our demands are met, the better for the state. With Medsaf’s direction, we believe we have gotten to near satisfactory point of our needs, as we look up to getting saturated in Nasarawa with consumables and drugs coverage, which will in turn bring optimal service delivery,” Yahaya said.
Speaking on Medsaf’s application of technology in pharmaceutical distribution, the commissioner applauded the vision of the company to revolutionise pharmaceutical supply chain in Nigeria.
He also confirmed that Nasarawa State is open to deploying technology to add value to what it presently has. “We need to employ ICT into every aspect of our healthcare system in order to monitor and ensure all our activities are tracked, to enable us maximise the service delivery of healthcare in Nasarawa State”, he declared.
Fielding questions from newsmen at the event, the Founder/CEO, Medsaf, Vivian Nwakah, expressed deep appreciation for the recognition accorded the company as the only pharmaceutical technology platform that is aggregating all pharmaceutical products from local manufacturers to ensure clients satisfaction.
“Being here today not only affirms how Medsaf is perfectly aligned to be great for Nasarawa State, but we can actually scale this across to other states that might also need to digitalise their entire pharmaceutical supply chain” Nwakah explained.
According to her, the partnership with Nasarawa State government has proven that everything Medsaf has done in the private sector can also support the public sector to improve capacity for providing better patient care at statewide level.
“More importantly, we need to have the right financing partners to ensure that we can not only meet the credit needs of our various stakeholders, but also that we have support to invest in the medications relevant to the country. I believe that all these things are possible, but we need a mindset change around how we use technology within our pharmaceutical procurement and that is the key in other to reach better patients’ outcome”, she pleaded.
