Nigeria Doesn’t Manufacture Anything Except Water – NAFDAC DG

Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has said the country does not produce anything except water.
Adeyeye stated that the Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, ravaging parts of the world, can jeopardise drug security in Nigeria, as most drugs are imported.
The NAFDAC boss noted this at a press briefing held at NAFDAC’s headquarters in Abuja, to announce the upcoming African Medicine Quality Forum meeting, billed for February 24 to 28, 2020.
She explained that Nigeria imports more than seventy per cent of its medicines, other active and non-active ingredients, which according to her, is setting a dangerous tone for drug insecurity if not curtailed.
“Seventy per cent of our drugs are imported and the alarm I am sounding now is one everybody should take seriously. We have drug insecurity because of the coronavirus.
“India is already feeling it because they buy most of their materials and active ingredients from China. If India is feeling it, we should start praying because we don’t manufacture anything here except water, we import almost everything – active and non-active ingredients, equipment etc.
“It is a scary thing, and I have been emphasizing this from day one. We need drug security. Since we import 70 per cent of our drugs, then, we are in trouble if such things happen,” Adeyeye said.
India, China and the United States of America are Nigeria’s biggest pharmaceutical import destinations, with drugs worth $481 million imported into the country from those countries in 2013.
Though there are no recent statistics according to The Times of Africa, drug imports into the country is projected to increase by 10.4 percent, and attain the $789 million mark in 2018.