St Racheal’s Pharma, a Nigeria-based pharmaceutical company aligned to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has signed a memorandum of understanding with HealthPlus Pharmacy, West Africa’s fastest growing pharmacy chain, to distribute pharmaceutical products in the country.
The signing ceremony, which took place at St Racheal’s corporate office in Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos on 21 June, 2018, had journalists, as well as directors and management staff of both companies in attendance.
According to a statement signed by both parties, the partnership will span two years at the initial stage with a view to dominate the Nigerian pharma sector. A renewal is expected to take place after.
Among other things, St Racheal’s is expected to upskill HealthPlus staff in the area of soft infrastructure (strategic marketing planning, supply chain management, customer service and corporate co-branding of both Below-The-Line (BTL) and Above-the-Level (ATL) advertising.
Healthplus, on its part, will be committed to procuring pharma products from St Racheal’s, maintaining adequate inventory of St Rachael’s medicines across a network of outlets nationwide, allowing access to a network of other retail outlets for learning and development, as well as allowing access for periodic stock counts and providing regular data.
In his opening remark, Pharm. Akinjide Adeosun, chairman/CEO of St Racheal’s, explained that the signing of the MOU represented a symbiotic and mutual relationship aimed at putting the patient first.
“Access to medicine will be improved in communities where HealthPlus pharmacies are situated across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It will also foster the knowledge-base of healthcare workers who look after patients, with ultimate goal of improvement in treatment outcomes,” he said.
Adeosun also identified low life expectancy of patients and low business longevity as two major challenges plaguing the healthcare industry to date.
“In Nigeria, the life expectancy rate for male is 53 and 56 for years for females. This is largely due to poverty, chronic diseases, inequality in education and poor lifestyle. This is why St Racheal’s is providing bioequivalent drugs at half the price of multinational innovators.
“The objective of our organisation is to tackle these challenges in partnership with critical stakeholders in Africa, in resonance with our quest “to improve life expectancy through availability of top quality affordable drugs in Africa,” he said.
Pharm. Bukky George, in her address, revealed that her relationship with both Pharm. Akinjide Adeosun and his wife, Pharm. Olubamiwo had been on for more than 20 years, adding that the birth of St Racheal’s over a year ago was a milestone in the history of Nigerian pharmaceutical industry.
“I say this because St Racheal’s is a reputable pharmaceutical company with a vision to eradicate diseases in Africa through provision of top quality, affordable and available pharmaceuticals, thereby improving life expectancy of patients.
“The company is also committed to global best practices, one of which is the need to formalise commercial relationships between pharma suppliers and their customers, stating service level agreements, terms and conditions. That is why we are here today,” she noted.
Notable for high quality healthcare and beauty products, Healthplus Pharmacy has received several laurels in the last 10 years, some of which included Nigerian Customer Service Award 2017, ICERITAS Best Buy Award 2017 and the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award (NHEA) for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.
St Racheal’s, on the other hand, is named after the grandmother of Pharm. Adeosun who died four years ago. The idea of immortalising her, according to the pharma entrepreneur, was due to her entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, steadfastness and other similar virtues she espoused.
Among dignitaries in attendance at the event were Pharm. Ochuko Omaruaye, managing director, New Heights Pharmaceuticals; Mr Taiwo Ajibola, managing director, MDS Logistics and Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, director, St Racheal’s Pharma.
 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has signed a memorandum of understanding with HealthPlus Pharmacy, West Africa’s fastest growing pharmacy chain, to distribute pharmaceutical products in the country.){kind=link}