Why Nigeria needs local vaccine industry – Experts
As at the time Nigeria was still waiting for vaccines to come from abroad during the Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) outbreak in March this year, 282 people had died, 1,966 people were infected and the disease was spreading to more states.
Although international organizations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) later came in to assist the country in tackling the vaccine shortage, as at 9th May ,according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) 13,420 suspected cases of meningitis have been reported from 23 states with 1,069 deaths.
Many experts say that some of this people would have been saved if Nigeria produces her vaccines locally.
Nigeria imports 100% of its vaccines from abroad and spends between four to six billion naira annually to purchase vaccines. The country also pays UNICEF six percent administration charges on amounts for vaccines supplied through UNICEF to the country.
More so, children still die every year from vaccine-preventable diseases in the country. Vaccine preventable diseases account for 22% of infant mortality. The vaccine-preventable diseases include polio, whooping cough, measles, tetanus, diphtheria, influenza, diarrhea, pneumonia, hepatitis and cervical cancers.
It is time to explore opportunities for vaccine manufacturing here in Nigeria as a means of ensuring availability all year round, and possibly at a cheaper cost.
Nigeria commenced local production of vaccines in 1940 at the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratory, Yaba which was established mainly for the production of anti-rabies, small pox and Yellow Fever Vaccines for local consumption and export. The vaccines were used in 1986 to mitigate the yellow fever outbreak.
However, in 1991, the vaccine production plant was shut down for renovation and upgrading but vaccine production has not resumed there for several years as a result of lack of funds, conflicting interests and other challenges .
Recently, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a joint venture agreement between the federal government and May and Baker Plc to produce vaccines in Nigeria from 2017-2021.
The journey before the recent partnership
The journey of the federal government partnership with May and Baker dates back to 2003, (twelve years after the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratory (FVPL), became moribund,) when May & Baker Nigeria PLC started making contacts with government to revive and upgrade the facility.
“We met the government and said the Federal Vaccine Production Lab facility in Yaba is not working, can we come in and help get it back to work? We went to President Olusegun Obasanjo to approve it. This led to the signing of an MOU with the Federal Government in 2005. We then took over the facility, and started managing everything there, including the assets, and payment of staff till now. We have also been caring for the animals there till now,” said the Managing Director, May and Baker Nigeria Plc, Nmamdi Okafor.
With the recent partnership, the Federal Government holds 49% of the share of the Biovaccines Nigeria Limited while May & Baker Plc holds 51%.
President Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Ahmed Yakasai said the partnership would go a long way in guaranteeing availability of vaccines for use in routine immunizations and vaccines for use during national emergency as observed recently during the outbreak of meningitis.
“May & Baker as one of the few Nigerian Pharma companies with WHO pre-qualification GMP certification will surely be able to enhance its capacity utilization and explore opportunities in exportation of vaccines to global markets,” he said.
Does Nigeria have capacity for local vaccine production?
According to the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, May and Baker was not just selected for the partnership but considered the best among other proposals from various pharmaceutical companies that showed interest in the partnership.
May and Baker is one of the first pharmaceutical companies in the country to bring anti-biotics, and anti-malaria into Nigeria, Daily Trust has learnt. The company also gathered experience on how vaccines work and how they are handled during its over forty years experience working as an exclusive distributor and a subsidiary of Pasteur Institute, one of the biggest global vaccine manufacturers.
It is also the first company to set up a factory to manufacture antiretrovirals in Nigeria, and four years ago, it completed a WHO certified manufacturing facility. In addition, at the moment, it is still prequalifying its antiretroviral drugs with WHO.
Benefits production of local vaccine
Local vaccine production will make vaccines affordable and accessible to the masses and make Nigeria serve as a supplier for the sub-region.
It will also provide employment opportunities, save the huge resources used for vaccine importation, and reduce the potential shortage of vaccine supplies and maximize delay in getting supplies to mention a few.
“Local vaccines production to address local diseases is the ultimate aim of any nation with robust strategies to address healthcare challenges,” the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN) said in a letter signed by its chairman, Okey Akpa to the Minister of Health , Prof. Isaac Adewole recently.
“It is on record that Nigeria still has the biggest cluster of WHO certified companies in Africa, and incidentally, May and Baker is one of those companies,” the organisation said.
Executive Secretary of PMGMANN, Dr Obi Peter Adigwe said that unless a country controls how its medicines are produced, it cannot guarantee sustainable access to affordable, high quality medicines for its citizenry.
Adigwe said the partnership between the Federal Government and May and Baker represents a paradigm shift which now rightly focuses on leveraging on the great potential of the Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
He said currently, Nigeria has over a third of all medicines’ manufacturing plants on the continent. With the country’s transition from Gavi’s support, Coordinator Africa Health Budget Network, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba said, “one way to ensure sustainable supply of vaccines in Nigeria is to delve in to local vaccine production which will also reduce over reliance of vaccines from international partners and promote self-sufficiency.”
Areas of concern
Some people have expressed concern that the federal government will be spending tax payers money to fund May and Baker Plc, however, findings have revealed that all the government is contributing is the building of the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratory (FVPL) which is valued at N1.2b and serves as the Federal Government equity contribution (49%) while May & Baker would source for more funds for full takeoff of the business.
“The Federal Government is not going to spend a kobo on the project apart from the valuated FVPL,” said Health Minister, Adewole .
Also the Federal Government’s partnership with May and Baker does not give the company monopoly on the production of vaccines as other companies who are qualified can go into the business giving room for competition.
“To ensure a competitive atmosphere, the ministry is in the process of engaging other interested parties and countries such as Cuba to also commence vaccines production in Nigeria,” said Adewole.
While Nigeria may not be where China and India is immediately, it is important to kick-start the process of local vaccine production in the country so that within the next few years Nigeria, can have her own vaccine industry.