Pharmacists Caution FG against Ban on Syringe Importation

Pharmacists under the aegis of Association of Community Pharmacist of Nigeria(ACPN) have advised the federal government to exercise caution before banning the importation of medical consumables and drugs into Nigeria.

The ACPN described the recent ban on the importation of syringes and needles into the country as an unprecedented adventure and needless gamble by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa.

In a petition to President Bola Tinubu, titled, ‘A need for a Presidential redress of the gaffe by Dr. Tunji Alausa’, the pharmacists condemned the hasty declaration of the ban and the directive to all Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to procure their syringes and needles from only National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) approved local manufacturers.

In the document signed by its National Chairman, Adewale Oladigbolu, and National Secretary, Omokhafe Ashore, ACPN which described Alausa’s circular as not only unlawful but vengeful, called on the President to revoke the pronouncement by Alausa, banning the medical consumables as it will promote monopoly and stock-outs in the supply value chain of syringes in the country.

The circular, HMSH&SW/CMDs/MDs/FTHs/ Circular/S&N/03 dated March 28, 2024, called for the “Use of locally manufactured needles and syringes,” signed by the Hon. Minister in charge of the Federal Ministry of Social Welfare, “appears a misnomer in many aspects and ramifications,’’ ACPN stated.

The minister had in circular 2024, directed all Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to procure needles and syringes from only the  NAFDAC, approved local manufacturers.

He also mandated NAFDAC to stop issuing licences for the importation of foreign manufactured needles and syringes and to delist companies involved in the importation of these products.

“Out of the nine local pharmaceutical companies that produced needles and syringes eight years ago, six have folded up due to dumping of largely substandard goods into our market. Mr. President has directed that this must stop.

“Furthermore, all our tertiary hospitals are hereby directed to procure needles and syringes for your hospital needs from only the NAFDAC approved local manufacturers listed either directly or through any of their vendors.

“Your Excellency, after a careful evaluation of this development, the ACPN wishes to posit that the aforementioned circular does not appear to align with the convention and protocol of the civil service in Nigeria. For a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to sign a circular instead of a designated civil servant, amounts to a climax of the absurd.

“The desperation and a seeming ulterior motive by the Minister of State to get involved procedurally in what should have been the exclusive preserve of bureaucrats like the Permanent Secretary (PS) or other technocrats like the relevant directors has led to avoidable errors.”

Continuing, ACPN stated that, “In the past few weeks, some notable leaders in healthcare and representatives of some of the various healthcare professional bodies cautioned the Hon. Minister on the need to exercise caution before banning the importation of medical consumables and devices as well as drugs in Nigeria.”

The pharmacists further said that experts’ “opinion was that the imperative demanded a requisite need assessment of needles and syringes in Nigeria against a scientific evaluation of the capacity utilisation and installed capacity of the existing three factories which manufactures syringes in Nigeria.

“The ACPN as the technical group of the PSN which is the natural habitat of the largest assemblage of distributors and marketers of drugs, consumables, chemicals, medical devices and other health consumables remains a strong advocate of local manufacturing.

“The ethos and tenets of commerce suggest that competitiveness brings out the best in terms of quality and pricing index to the advantage of consumers in all global assessments. Even if we choose to jeopardise WTO Treaties to which we are signatories because of national interest, it must be guided by recent experiences in the commodity segment markets.””