‘Pharmaceutical Warehouse Will Stop Chaotic Drug Distribution’

In a bid to reduce the chaotic drug distribution system in the country, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute, has said that the proposed state of the art pharmaceutical storage facility called ‘Warehouse-ina-Box’ to be built in Lagos, would help prevent the abysmal distribution system of drugs in the country.

Awute, who spoke at the ground breaking ceremony for the laying of blocks for the construction of the $5million (N1billion) pharmaceutical warehouse by the Ministry of Health, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund, said that the national guideline stipulates that drugs must be easily distributed in a manner that should make it more accessible to the citizens, hence the Federal Government’s embrace of the warehouse project.

He noted that the storage of medicines have been a challenge for the country, adding that, medicines and other health commodities were special items that required appropriate storage conditions.

According to him, the ministry was trying to lead by example by ensuring that drugs that were procured by the federal government or donated by donors and other development partners were stored properly and distributed accordingly.

He said the stores in Lagos would serve as a central storage hub for health products coming through the various ports in the region, noting that, the pharmaceutical warehouse in Abuja would as well serve that region of the country.

Meanwhile, the Country Director, USAID, Mr Mike Harvey, said the project would double the storage capacity of the existing warehouse and make it easier for the Federal Ministry of Health to buy, store, track and distribute drugs to health care centres across the country.

Harvey said over 7,000 health facilities across Nigeria would receive commodities from the warehouses, and that it would also reduce the cost and time of transporting live-saving medicines and equipment to all parts of the country.

He said: “Building this warehouse in Lagos aligns with one of the six central technical components of the Federal Government’s ‘Saving One Million Lives Initiative’.

Harvey said the U.S. Government provided N800 million ($4million) while Global Fund contributed N200 million ($1million), adding that, Nigeria provided the land.

In her speech, the Acting U.S. Consul-General in Nigeria, Dehab Ghebreab, said the facility would be part of a network of warehouses the U.S. Government was supporting through its President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Lagos. She said a similar project was inaugurated in Abuja in February, nothing that, “our investment here will help ensure that Nigeria has the warehouse infrastructure that meets international standard to efficiently store medicines and other pharmaceutical products to provide good health care and save lives.

“As a mother, I understand and appreciate the importance of accessing quality medicine. If my child gets ill at night or in school, I want my child to be seen immediately by a health practitioner or a doctor at a health facility and be given medicine needed to cure him. I am sure every parent wants that.

“I also want to know that my neighbour, who is in labour, gets drugs that prevent postpartum haemorrhage (blood loss after child-bearing); that her newborn baby will be protected from cord infection. I want to know that the young family across the street has bed-nets they need to prevent malaria,” she said.