Posted on: Wed 26-05-2021

Lagos branch of the pharmaceutical society of Nigeria, PSN, weekend raised the alarm over what it described as  “unending taxes and tariffs on players in the value chain of the pharmaceutical sector,”  by the National  Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control, NAFDAC,  calling on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to stop the agency from turning pharmacy practice to a major source of Internally Generated Revenue.

In a statement entitled:  Pharmacy not for sale”, signed by  Chairman, Lagos state  PSN, Gbolagade Iyiola,  the society alleged that NAFDAC has taken over the certification of pharmaceutical premises engaged in the wholesaling and distribution of drugs in Nigeria. “The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Lagos State Branch finds it imperative to sensitise appropriate Government quarters and other stakeholders after all entreaties to get National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, and its management to have a rethink about its propensities to turn Pharmacy practice to a major template of Internally Generated Revenue through its imposition of unending taxes and tariffs on players in the value chain of the Pharmaceutical sector.

“It is this grab all attitude by NAFDAC that has encouraged some other regulators in the Nigerian space to imagine there is more money than common sense in the Pharmaceutical Sector. They added that the agency has recently issued a checklist to wholesalers and distributors of drugs in Nigeria with a declaration that it would commence inspection of these Pharma-wholesalers and distributors in the days ahead. 

“It is also an irony that NAFDAC inspectors have been invading retail Pharmacy outlets under various guises of regulatory violations imposing fines on perceived offences. “Some of the arbitrarily imposed fines are as heavy as N500,000 in some instances. NAFDAC has also insisted on continuing its agenda of forcing importers of the drug to pay as high as N4.2Million per foreign manufacturer facility for GMP clearance when the reality is that India which is the biggest exporter of drugs to Nigeria has banned exports of Pharmaceuticals to Nigeria because of the peculiar challenge of COVID-19 which continues to ravage its local population. 

“The management team of NAFDAC led by its Director-General has frustrated all entreaties to dialogue on this particular subject matter which is potentially detrimental to the availability of life-saving drugs for Nigerians. They added that: “The attempts of NAFDAC to inspect wholesalers and distributors of drugs and certify for meeting Good Storage and Distribution Practice (GSDP), evaluate Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for cleaning, environmental monitoring, monitor power and alternative power supply (e.g. generators) and determine functionality and suitability of warehouse conditions are matters bordering directly on Pharmacy Practice which remains the exclusive jurisdiction of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, PCN. Stating that NAFDAC should look beyond wholesalers for its Internally Generated Revenue, they stated: “We bring to the attention of the Director-General and management team that NAFDAC now imposes heavy fines albeit arbitrarily on Registered Pharmacies on spurious charges or violations. 

The PSN Lagos State Branch does not encourage breaches in-laws, but we do not and will certainly not allow the impunity of harassing our members through processes that are not in tandem with normative civility. “It is important to sound it loud and clear that Nigeria is currently travelling on the path of imminent drug scarcity and skyrocketing of prices if NAFDAC does not redress its cutthroats tariffs in the areas of GMP inspection tariffs which transcends to a princely N4.2 million per manufacturing facility abroad. At a time most businesses are not running optimally, NAFDAC insists on these crippling charges.”

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