Nigerian government has urged African countries to work towards production of HIV/AIDs drugs locally to reduce the amount of money spent on importation of the drugs.
The Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole represented by the Director, Family Health Dr. Wapada Balami made the call while meeting with a delegation from Champions for an AIDS –free Generation In Africa led by the chairman, Festus Mogae, former President of Botwana who were on advocacy visit to Nigeria.
Adewole said that African countries, be they regional or as a whole should look at the possibility of manufacturing indigenous HIV drugs. “Countries procuring HIV drugs from outside Africa are taking large amount of resources to another parts of the world, but if we manufacture indigenously we would reduce cost because importing is more expensive than manufacturing”, he said.
He advised the delegation to seek the support of WHO’s pre-qualification in the production of HIV drugs locally . He said if at least one African country is manufacturing other countries may procure from there and the cost would be reduced. While assuring the People living with HIV/AIDs of Federal Government Commitment to provide adequate care, he called for increase in the budgetary allocation to HIV and AIDs considering the fact that the number of people living with the Virus in the country is high.
In his remarks the Leader of the delegation former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, said that political commitments from top government officials are prerequisite for achieving the fight against HIV/AIDs.
He said that leaders must be involved not only in treatment but also in preventive measures. There should be proper coordination among Federal, State and Local Governments as well as all agencies working on HIV/AID.
By Kuni Tyessi
Leadership News
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