By Sufuyan Ojeifo
There is a current danger of imminent collapse facing local producers or manufacturers of syringes and medical devices in Nigeria. The dumping of imported Asian products, some of which are sub-standard and are reportedly subsidized by their home governments, has aggravated the economic hardship being experienced by local syringes/medical devices manufacturers in the country.
Stakeholders in the industry have launched into a series of consultations and lobby group advocacy aimed at getting the Federal Government to weigh in with a regime of protectionist policies that will help to keep the local manufacturers afloat, especially in the face of economic hardship, accentuated by unfair foreign competition.
The minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Elenemah, has been referenced in an omnibus save-our-soul message that one of the local companies involved in the production of auto-disable (AD) syringes wrote wherein the industry situation was brought under focus for urgent remedial measures to be explored as quickly as possible, lest the local manufacturers go under.
One of the major concerns is that local manufacturers such as Fay Hygenic Products FZE in Calabar, El-Salmat Pharmaceuticals in Ilorin, Medical Plastics Limited in Kano, First Medicals and Sterile Products in Calabar, Zaria Pharmaceutical Limited (Zarinject) in Zaria and PAHF AD Syringe Manufacturer in Port Harcourt, are today producing below ten percent of installed capacities, with the looming implications of hundreds of jobs being lost if the situation is not reversed.
Apart from the dumping of substandard medical products or devices from the Asian continent in Nigeria, which has somewhat beaten the regulatory surveillance of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the local business environment wherein the manufacturers operate has been made much more inclement due to irregular public power supply in factories, with the attendant high cost of running diesel-powered generating sets.
The red flags are everywhere on the economic terrains. The cost of doing business has astronomically gone up while patronage (demand) is nose-diving and revenue/earnings constantly dwindling. Besides, with the proliferation of the market with substandard and cheap products, the market is manifestly skewed against the local manufacturers which produce and supply standard and, of course, more expensive products. This is worrisome to local manufacturers.
Reports from the product end-users indicate that the substandard syringes break easily at the point of using them on patients. Stakeholders contend that non-enforcement of the Safe Injection (AD) Policy already emplaced by government is largely encouraging the uninterrupted dumping of substandard syringes and medical devices from Asia in Nigeria.
Going forward, local manufacturers have appealed to the federal government to protect them against what they term “unfair foreign competition”, which they fear would completely cause them to collapse, if nothing is done as quickly as possible to mitigate the unwholesome advantage that the foreign manufacturers enjoy.
There is, indeed, a proposal, along that line. In the proposal, the local manufacturers are calling on the government to review the current import duty on medical products which oscillates between 20 and 25 per cent by upping it to a minimum of between 35 or 40 per cent. The crux of the call for upward review is to discourage importation.
Perhaps, beyond that, the NAFDAC should ensure that the products that are brought into Nigeria are of the right quality and/or standard. Stricter surveillance measures are also being advocated to ensure that foreign manufacturers do not illegally and unjustly profiteer from the Nigerian market by unleashing on our market substandard products which Nigerians would gravitate towards because of their cheapness at the expense of locally-produced standard products that are costlier. Once the demand for the locally-produced standard products declines, as it is being experienced, the prognosis becomes unmistakably clear: collapse.
The local manufacturers are remarkably confident of their technical knowhow in this terrain. They can hold their own. And they parade the requisite certifications including those of the World Health organisation (WHO), International Standard Organisation (ISO)/Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), NAFDAC, and Pharmacist Council of Nigeria. Their position is that their capabilities and expertise are not in doubt.
Therefore, in order to contribute to a holistic development of the national economy, the local production of medical devices can be made an exclusive preserve of local manufacturers to the extent the specific products being produced here can be included on the list of items that are exempted from importation. That will build confidence in the local manufacturers and enable them to increase utilization of their production capacities.
This, as also argued, would conserve foreign exchange which the government can leverage on to build a robust national economy. In addition, protecting the Nigerian syringe/medical device industries from unfair foreign competition has the potential of benefitting the process of generating employment for the growing army of the nation’s unemployed and restive youths; reducing over-dependence on imported products; bolstering overall acquisition of technical skills; and monitoring and controlling, with greater ease, of standards.
Analysts contend that Ministry of Trade and Investment, Ministry of Health, under the watch of Professor Isaac Adewole, and its allied agencies such as NAFDAC and SON, should rise up to the occasion and do the needful to save the local production of medical devices from preventable collapse. In particular, NAFDAC’s management under the responsive and responsible leadership of the acting Director General, Mrs Yetunde Oni, should galvanise surveillance to ensure that, for a starter, all substandard disposal syringes and medical devices in the Nigerian market, are apprehended. This and other measures are doable in the interest of the national economy, which requires every stimulus to get out of recession.
Ojeifo, journalist and publisher, contributed this piece via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com
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