Lagos: A Nigerian pharmaceutical company, ST. RACHEAL’S Pharma, has urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure the return of all pharmaceutical firms that had left Nigeria because of economic challenges. The Chairman of the firm, Mr. Akinjide Adeosun, made the appeal on Saturday in Lagos at the commemoration of the company’s 7th anniversary.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Adeosun urged Tinubu to redouble efforts at tackling the rising cost of drugs and brain drain to improve the health conditions of Nigerians, especially the indigent. He emphasized the need for the President to declare a state of emergency on health with the primary goal of saving the lives of Nigerians experiencing severe economic hardship.
Adeosun highlighted healthcare areas needing urgent attention, including hard and soft infrastructures. He stressed the importance of re-engaging pharmaceutical companies that exited the country to reinvest in Research and Development (R and D), which could accelerate Nigeria’s manufacturing renaissance. The Minister of Trade and Investment is encouraged to lead this initiative by fostering partnerships with local manufacturers to position Nigeria strategically as a hub for exporting to African countries.
Adeosun also called for the immediate removal of import duty and levy on critical pharmaceutical products, such as antibiotics, antihypertensive, and antidiabetics, which lack adequate local manufacturing capacity. This measure, he suggested, would help reduce the cost of drugs in Nigeria.
Addressing the need for improved soft infrastructure, Adeosun noted the absence of state-of-the-art medical education previously provided by multinational pharmaceutical companies. Reviving their interest in Nigeria could rekindle investment in human capacity, aligning Nigerian healthcare practitioners with their global counterparts. To counteract the dwindling manpower due to brain drain, he proposed significantly increasing admission numbers in schools of medicine and pharmacy nationwide. Furthermore, an enabling working environment should be created to attract Nigerians in the diaspora and other African healthcare professionals to practice in Nigeria.
Adeosun, however, commended the removal of import duty and Value Added Tax on active pharmaceutical ingredients by the President. He noted that this decision would, in the long term, improve the ratio of imported drugs to locally produced drugs from the current 60:40 to 40:60.
In advocating for the poor, the pharmacist urged the Federal Government to make every possible effort to alleviate the health burden of the vulnerable. While supporting various non-health palliatives provided in the country, he suggested enrolling indigent patients in government-paid health insurance at both national and sub-national levels, which would positively impact people’s health and improve life expectancy in Nigeria.
Adeosun also reflected on the achievements of ST. RACHEAL’S Pharma since its launch on March 29, 2018, noting its success in core commercial remits and customer satisfaction through value-added services in leadership, finance, customer care, distribution, and technology. He highlighted the work of the Akinjide Adeosun Foundation (AAF), the non-profit organization of ST. RACHEAL’S Pharma, which has executed free medical missions and leadership education in Nigeria, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.