By Dipo Olowookere
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been blamed for failing to curtail the circulation of fake drugs in the country.
Executive Director of Fidson health Care Plc, Mr Bola Adebayo, told The Nation that the gap created by inadequate genuine manufacturers of drugs in the hinterland has led to the over-bearing presence of counterfeit drugs in villages and semi-urban centres in the country, pointing out that real manufacturers are only concentrated in big cities.
On the challenges faced by his members, he said before now manufacturers literarily ran out of raw materials as a result of forex scarcity.
He, however, praised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for bending backwards recently by giving them concessionary rate to keep their factories running. He said this has prevented what would have resulted in mass closure of factories.
Mr Adebayo confirmed that most drug firms were encouraging the Federal Government’s Backward Integration Policy by insisting that they buy pet bottles and glasses locally.
On the challenges facing the sector, he recalled that they spend over 50 percent of their working capital on electricity generation.
“Electricity is not available and where it is available it is not usable. We provide our water, security, roads, access to market and debts from both State and Federal Governments,” he said.
Source: The Nation
