Fostering local production of essential medicines in Nigeria

The role of government in the achievement of medicines' security: A preliminary exploration of stakeholders' views and experience

Medicines are essential commodities that form the cornerstone in majority of processes and interventions aimed at assuring optimal healthcare and wellbeing for any population. Apart from being saddled with the responsibility of providing medications for this purpose, the pharmaceutical industry has the potential to catalyse socioeconomic development such as job creation and revenue generation. This study aimed at assessing government's role in driving development in Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector. Questionnaires were administered to healthcare practitioners that participated in an event targeted at developing Nigerian pharmaceutical sector. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. A total of 76 respondents participated in the study. Two-thirds of the study participants (69.7%) were males, slightly above a third of the study participants (38.2%) were aged 51 and above, and close to a quarter of the participants (21.1%) were doctorate degree holders. About half of the study participants (51.4%) indicated that Nigerian pharmaceutical sector was not adequately regulated, whilst almost all (97.4%) indicated that engaging the legislature was critical for the development of the sector. A strong majority of the study participants (87.5%) indicated that existing drug laws should be reviewed so as to protect the pharmaceutical sector. Also, majority of the participants (56.3%) were not satisfied with government's efforts in developing the pharmaceutical industry. Although this study explored a small cohort, its findings have revealed novel insights regarding factors limiting the requisite prioritisation of the Nigerian pharmaceutical sector. The emergent evidence can begin to underpin proactive policy and practice reforms aimed at achieving medicines' security in Nigeria. Further studies can build on these preliminary findings to enable robust and comprehensive sectoral interventions that improve access to healthcare, whilst also catalysing socioeconomic development.

Policies and practices in Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector: A mixed methods exploration of stakeholders' perspectives on strategic reforms

Background

Policies and practices are key factors that determine development in any sector. In the Nigerian setting however, there is lack of evidence that the pharmaceutical sector is embedded with contextual policies and practices that can expedite development in the system. This inadvertently has an impact as regards access to medicines for the citizenry. This study therefore aimed at adopting a bottom-up approach in gathering insights into stakeholders' perspectives on policies and practices in Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector, and how they influence Medicines' Security and consequent access to healthcare.

Methods

Data were collected using a self completion questionnaire which was administered to stakeholders present during an event held in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, which focused on improving the Nigerian pharmaceutical sector. A total number of 82 questionnaires were administered to participants. Following retrieval of questionnaires, quantitative data were subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses, whilst textual data were analysed using thematic analysis approach.

Results

Of the 82 questionnaires administered, response rate was 92.68%. Two-thirds of the participants were males (69.7%). A quarter of the study participants were between the ages of 41 and 50 years, whilst those above 50 years represented the most populous proportion of the sample (38.2%). A considerable proportion (48%) of the study participants indicated that current policy ecosystem was hostile for pharmaceutical sector growth and development. Also, majority (97.3%) of the study participants indicated that increased investment in health research could stimulate the development of the pharmaceutical sector. Majority of the study participants indicated the need for collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, research institutes and the petrochemical industry.

Conclusion

This study consequently identified several critical factors that could stimulate development in the sector, including increased funding of research; stringent implementation of existing policies; and prioritisation of pharmaceutical sector by government and other key stakeholders.

Healthcare professionals’ views on access to vaccines in Nigeria: A cross sectional study

Vaccines are important public health interventions that are critical in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Sustainable access to these products is therefore critical in articulating contextual policies and strategies. This study aimed at exploring the views of healthcare professionals regarding perceived challenges and strategies that influence access to vaccines in Nigeria. A cross sectional study was undertaken amongst healthcare practitioners that attended a conference targeted at improving access to vaccines. A questionnaire was used for data collection, and analysis was undertaken using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 604 participants, response rate was 87.1%, with male participants (54.4%) being slightly better represented than females (45.6%). A tenth of the participants (10.6%) were educated up to doctorate degree level, and a considerable proportion of the participants (43.6%) worked in the government sector. Slightly above three quarters (78.3%) of the participants were of the view that lack of local production capacity was an obstacle preventing access to vaccines, whilst above two thirds of the respondents (70.5%) were of the opinion that the current funding for research and development towards vaccines was sub-optimal. A total of 70.1% of the sample disagreed that the current policy environment was favourable to development of vaccines, whilst more than half of the participants (56%) perceived a lack of support by philanthropists and relevant foundations, for vaccines development in Nigeria. A majority of the participants (73.7%) indicated that sustainable access to vaccines in Nigeria could be achieved by harnessing local research capacity. This study identified critical challenges limiting access to vaccines in Nigeria and can consequently underpin relevant policy and practice reforms that aim to improve access to this public health tool.

Improving the availability of prescription drugs in Lebanon: a critical analysis of alternative policy options

The economic downfall in Lebanon and the destruction of the Beirut Port have had a crippling effect on all players in the health sector, including hospitals, healthcare providers, and the pharmaceutical and medical supply industry. The outbreak of COVID-19 has further aggravated the crisis. To address the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry, Lebanon must create a stable and secure source of prescription drug production. Two alternative approaches are presented to address the crisis: (1) amending the subsidy system and supporting local pharmaceutical production, and (2) promoting the prescription and use of generic drugs. Investing in local production is promising and can lead to establishing trust in the quality of drugs produced locally. These efforts can be complemented by promoting the prescription and use of generic drugs at a later stage, after having had established a well-operating system for local drug production.

Antihypertensive medicine use differs between Ghana and Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Non-communicable diseases are a growing burden in many African countries; cardiovascular disease is the main disease. Antihypertensive medicines (AHM) are a common treatment option but we know little about community use in most low- and medium-income countries (LMIC). We aimed to describe the use of antihypertensive medicines (AHM) in Ghana and Nigeria using a novel data source.

METHODS

We used data from mPharma-a health and pharmaceutical company which distributes pharmaceuticals to hospital and retail pharmacies. We extracted data using the anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) classification codes and calculated use in defined daily doses and explored patterns by class, medicines, dose, and originator or generic product.

RESULTS

AHM use differed between Ghana and Nigeria. The most used classes in Ghana were angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) followed by calcium channel blockers (CCB) and angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEi). The five most used products were 16 mg candesartan, 30 mg nifedipine, 10 mg lisinopril, 5 mg amlodipine and 50 mg losartan. In Nigeria ARB, CCB and diuretics were widely used; the top five products were 50 mg losartan, 10 mg lisinopril, 30 mg nifedipine, 40 mg furosemide, and 5 mg amlodipine. More originator products were used in Ghana than Nigeria.

CONCLUSION

The differences between Ghana and Nigeria may result from a combination of medical, contextual and policy evidence and reflect factors related to clinical guidance (e.g. standard treatment guidelines), accessibility to prescribers and the role of community pharmacies, and structure of the health system and universal health coverage including funding for medicines. We show the feasibility of using novel data sources to gain insights on medicines use in the community.

Addressing the post‐COVID era through engineering biology

Currently, the world is faced with two fundamental issues of great importance, namely climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. These are intimately involved with the need to control climate change and the need to switch from high carbon, unsustainable economies to low carbon economies. Inherent in this approach are the concepts of the bioeconomy and the Green Industrial Revolution. The article addresses both issues, but it, principally, focusses on the development of the bioeconomy. It considers how nations are divided in relation to the use of biotechnology and synthetic biology in terms of their bioeconomy strategies. The article addresses, as a central theme, the nature and role of engineering biology in these developments. Engineering biology is addressed in terms of BioDesign, coupled with high levels of automation (including AI and machine learning) to increase reproducibility and reliability to meet industrial standards. This lends itself to distributed manufacturing of products in a range of fields. Engineering biology is a platform technology that can be applied in a range of sectors. The bioeconomy, as an engine for economic growth is addressed—in terms of moving from oil‐based economies to bio‐based economies—using biomass, for example, using selected lignocellulosic waste as a feedstock.