UNAIDS Tasks FG On Local Anti-Retroviral Acceleration

The Joint United Nations
has Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has called on the Federal Ministry of Health  accelerate local production of Anti-Retroviral Drugs, to enable the country to suppress transmission of HIV/AIDS by 2030.
UNAIDS Country Director for Nigeria and UNAIDS Focal Point for ECOWAS, Dr Bilali Camara,  made the call during in an interview newsmen in Abuja.
Camera said UNAIDS has discussed with some pharmaceutical companies who have pledged readiness to go ahead with the production of anti-retroviral drugs as well as other HIV commodities in Nigeria.
In his words, “The pharmaceutical companies have asked the government for patronage as well as the freedom to import the necessary ingredients for the production of the drugs free. They have also asked the government to ensure that the market is protected and that the government should utilise the drugs at low competitive rate.
“When the drugs are produced and sold to government, the companies want the government to ensure prompt payments as quickly as possible to sustain the production of the commodities,”
Camera who maintained  that UNAIDS would continue to push the ministry to ensure the accomplishment of this important goal stated that if Nigeria could produce the drugs, it will assist us to make a difference in the whole of West Africa and thereby making drugs more affordable to the sub-region at a cheaper rate.
“There is viable market for the commodities within the region and some stakeholders in the region will tell you that there is stock out in some of the countries.”
The director further said that the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) was collaborating with Nigerian pharmaceutical companies to see how to provide better drugs security stock in the region
He said ECOWAS must also be responsible  to  the consumption of drugs produced within the sub-region.
“We are negotiating with these Nigerian pharmaceutical companies to be the one to provide the security on anti-retroviral drugs for WAHO.
“The location for the centre has been identified in Abidjan; the government of Cote d’Ivoire has accepted the offer and already there are some vaccines there.
“We are also working to make anti-retroviral drugs available at the centre so that when member states run into crises, they can get stock from there.
The country director said that Africa imports 98 per cent of its anti-retroviral medicines adding  that two manufacturers dominated 71 per cent of the African market.
He said that the local production of the anti-retroviral drugs would also provide an incentive to build domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity as well as deliver economic dividends to the region.