Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Bloom Public Health has entered into agreement with Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) to boost manufacturing of pharmaceutical products in Nigeria and beyond.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Bloom Public Health, Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, the objective of the partnership was to provide technical assistance to NAIP in actualising Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Parks across locations in Nigeria.
He made the remarks while signing the partnership agreement, explaining that the move was necessitated by fears of a global shortage of essential medicines from leading producers and exporters such as China and India as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that had crippled socio-economic activities across the world.
Prof. Anyakora, was optimistic that the partnership would reposition the Nigerian pharmaceutical industries to engage in manufacturing of essential medicines and strengthen the pharmaceutical supply chain system in Nigeria.
He added that the Pharmaceutical Parks, when established, would increase local manufacturing of medicines and greatly reduce dependence on importation of some medicines.
His words: “The MoU was a big win for Nigeria and Africa. It’s also a good step in the right direction. The impact of the disruption of the pharmaceutical supply chain is huge and will be felt in months to come. At Bloom, we are excited by the various quick interventions of different agencies of government to solve the problem.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stepped in strongly with finances to provide a solution and support local pharmaceutical industries. Expectedly, NAIP will strategically complement this effort and bring long term impactful intervention that will get Nigeria ready in case of another pandemic of this nature, and also complement all other interventions.”
NAIP National Chairman, Ignatius Anukwu, in his remarks described Bloom Public Health as a strategic partner in their long desire to actualise the establishment of pharmaceutical manufacturing parks in Nigeria, which will serve as a panacea for self-sufficiency in essential medicine availability.