Posted on: Fri 24-11-2023

Following closure of a British pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and others in the country, President of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Prof. Cyril Odianose Usifoh, has charged the Federal Government on the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), affordability and access to citizens. 

He pointed out that if APIs are produced locally, it would generate foreign exchange and create jobs for the teeming youths. Usifo made the appeal at the launch of Pharmaconex and MedLab West Africa by Informa Market in Lagos.

The initiative was to unite industry leaders in the pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment industries for a better sector. He said the only way medicines could be affordable was to take charge of their production.

The PSN boss advised pharmacies to look inward and ensure drugs are within the reach of the average Nigerian. National Chairman, Association of Industrial Pharmacy of Nigeria, Kenneth Chinedu Onuegbu, said the country needed to focus on local production of essential pharmaceutical products, urging political leaders to allow professionals to take care of certain things.

Group Exhibition Director, Informa Market Egypt for Pharmaconex West Africa, Mostapha Khalil, explained they were out to support the government in localising and promoting the pharmaceutical sectors in Nigeria and Africa at large.

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