The recent report that some Indian pharmaceutical companies dumped substandard drugs worth over $1.60 billion in Nigeria markets in two years has raised concerns about public health safety in the country. It should also serve as a wake-up call on the government to revamp the local pharmaceutical industry and make the country less dependent on imported drugs. The report came on the heels of complaints by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) that the influx of fake drugs by some unscrupulous Indian firms, in connivance with some Nigerian importers, is causing serious health challenges in the country. NAFDAC has also accused Indian drug manufacturers of unethical and unprofessional conduct.
Following the accusation, and in a bid to avoid a possible diplomatic row, a meeting between NAFDAC officials and Indian Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) was held recently in Abuja, to address the problem. That the alleged importation of counterfeit drugs persists despite existing pre-shipment analysis and appointment of an agent by NAFDAC in Mumbai, India, means that more drastic measures need to be taken to effectively check the ugly trend. Statistics show that pharmaceutical exports to Nigeria in 2020 stood at $448 million, $573 million in 2021, and $588 million between January and April, 2022. Only recently NAFDAC placed a moratorium, effective November 2022, for manufacturers to clear every consignment at the ports that violated the approved formulations and package designs. According to the moratorium, any consignment that violates the rule will on arrival in Nigeria, whether by airlines or shipment, be confiscated with sanctions on the erring importers and manufacturing exporters. Such firms also risk being blacklisted in Nigeria.
The moratorium is coming one year after the Federal Government approved import duty waiver for medical equipment and supplies to strengthen health infrastructure in Nigeria in response to COVID-19 pandemic. It has since been discovered, according to NAFDAC, that some unscrupulous importers used that waiver to smuggle in fake drugs disguised in containers as medical consumables. For some time now, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has expressed concerns that the over-dependence on foreign manufactured goods, including essential drugs, is not helping the economy. The alarm is legitimate. Local pharmaceutical firms need to be given the needed boost. Currently, they have low capacity to manufacturer drugs, thereby making them to depend on Indian pharmaceutical firms. This has also depleted Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
It is time for NAFDAC and other relevant agencies to redouble their efforts by ensuring that all drugs importations are carefully monitored at both pre-shipment and destination levels. Undoubtedly, the proliferation of substandard drugs is one of the causes of unnecessary mortality and morbidity and loss of public confidence in the nation’s health care sector. Fake and substandard drugs pose great threat to the attainment of Millennium Development Goals, 4, 5 and 6 which aims to significantly reduce infant mortality.
More steps should be taken towards checking counterfeit drugs. In 1998, the Federal Government took steps to limit counterfeit drugs manufacture and sale by implementing legislation that would make it a criminal offence. These initial efforts lacked widespread political support and enforcement. As a result, they were ineffective in meeting the objectives. Latest reports claim that about 50 per cent of drugs in the country are counterfeit.
It is, however, not in doubt that NAFDAC is trying to address this problem through ensuring quality control and monitoring. The agency says it has seven well-equipped laboratories across the country, each costing about N300 million, to check the menace. While that is commendable, there is need to upscale the laboratories with more functional equipment that will make them more effective. The laboratories should always investigate and certify the quality, safety, efficacy and wholesomeness of regulated products, both imported and locally-manufactured drugs. This is necessary to avoid counterfeiting.
It is good news that the agency has returned to the ports after some years of absence. This will help to reduce the influx of substandard drugs. But importers and cabals behind such illegal transactions are not relenting in spite of the presence of NAFDAC and other government agencies at various entry points in the country. Dangerous drugs are sometimes shipped as building materials, electrical appliances, and computer accessories. This is why all pharmaceutical drugs and other regulated products that may be harmful to health must be properly checked at the point of entry. That calls for more surveillance on the movement of drugs within and outside the country. There is need for tougher measures to deal with the importation of substandard drugs in the country.