WHO Certifies Rivers-Made Syringes …As Amaechi Tasks NAFDAC On Patronage

Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, has called on the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to expedite action toward obtaining the World Health Organisation (WHO) certification for every medical and health facility in the country.

Governor Amaechi made this call yesterday when the agency led by its Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii visited him in Government House, Port Harcourt where the latter announced that the World Health Organisation had certified the syringes produced by the Auto syringe factory at Rumuosi, a suburb of Port Harcourt.

Represented by his Deputy, Engr Tele Ikuru, Amaechi urged the agency to work towards harmonising the certification regime for medical equipment and drugs in the country, regretting that some states were still importing syringes from other countries when the Rivers State-owned Pan African Auto Syringe factory at Alakahia, Port Harcourt was producing WHO certified syringes.

“It does not make sense that we manufacture WHO certified syringes and states are still importing syringes from other countries,” he said, disclosing that the state government had commenced the process of expanding the capacity of the factory to one billion, noting that the expansion would gulp £200million.

The state chief executive charged NAFDAC to ensure that its staff members were men and women of integrity, pointing out that the task of managing the quality of drugs in the country was a difficult one.

Earlier, NAFDAC Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii said that the endorsement  of the auto syringe factory by the WHO called for  “celebrating a dream come true. Today history is being written in Port Harcourt”, noting that while ‘ it costs the WHO $4.7billion annually to procure medical equipment,  no single dollar was spent in Nigeria,” adding that “the huge investment by the state is not a waste”.

He observed that the production of syringes by the state would help grow the economy as it was an investment that would yield long term dividends for the state and country. Dr Orhii also recalled that syringes produced in the state were exported and used in Haiti during that country’s crisis and commended the state government for blazing the trail in malaria elimination.

Speaking, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Sampson Parker, expressed delight over the approval granted by the WHO for the auto syringe factory, noting that it was a plus for the health policy thrust of the Governor Amaechi-led administration in the state. He expressed optimism that this feat would rub off on the sustained improvement of the healthcare for the people of the state.

Wife of Rivers State Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi (2nd left), Queen Mother Mamaga Amega Kofi Bra IV (left), former Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih (2nd right) and a participant during the Commonwealth Africa Regional Colloquium in Accra, Ghana recently.