The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reverse the ban on the importation of syringes and needles imposed by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa.

In a communication addressed to the Presidency entitled “A need for a Presidential redress of the gaffe by Dr Tunji Alausa,” the pharmacists cautioned that failure to rescind the abrupt ban could lead to monopolies and shortages in the syringe supply chain within the country.

The ACPN asserted that the ban would undermine the Federal Government’s longstanding efforts to regulate the nation’s pharmaceutical market effectively.

The letter was jointly signed by Adewale Oladigbolu, the ACPN National Chairman, and Ashore Omokhafe, the National Secretary.

In a circular dated March 28, 2024, with reference number HMSH&SW/CMDs/MDs/FTHs/CIRCULAR/S&N/03, the minister instructed all Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to exclusively source needles and syringes from locally approved manufacturers by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Alausa’s directive also instructed NAFDAC to cease issuing licenses for the importation of foreign-made needles and syringes and to exclude companies involved in such imports from future authorizations.

The circular titled “Use of locally manufactured needles and syringes”, included a section stating that, Of the nine local pharmaceutical firms that manufactured needles and syringes eight years ago, six have closed down as a result of the influx of mainly inferior products into our market. The President has ordered that this practice must cease.

“Furthermore, all our tertiary hospitals are hereby directed to procure needles and syringes for your hospital needs from only the NAFDAC-approved local manufacturers listed below and are listed either directly or through any of their vendors. EL-Salmat Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd Block, Brand Name: Salmaject, HMA Medical Ltd., with brand Name: Deleject and Afrimedical Manufacturing & Supplies Ltd.”

Both ACPN officials stated that the association had critically appraised the circular and it does not align with the convention and protocol of the civil service in Nigeria.

The letter reads, “Your Excellency, the ACPN appeals to your sense of judgment in good conscience to quash the unlawful and vengeful circular of the Hon. Minister of State, Dr. Tunji Alausa for reasons well highlighted in this memo.

“Your Excellency, the output of Dr Alausa is yet another vindication that pharmaceutically inclined endeavours need the technical input of a seasoned Registered Pharmacist in the capacities of a Chairman of, the Presidential Committee on Drug Distribution and Advisor on Pharmaceuticals to gain the desired momentum in Nigeria.

“The desperation and a seeming ulterior motive by the Minister of State to get involved procedurally in what should have been the exclusive preserve of bureaucrats like the Permanent Secretary or other technocrats like the relevant directors have led to avoidable errors.”

Recently, prominent healthcare leaders and representatives of healthcare professional organizations advised the minister to approach with caution before banning the importation of medical supplies, devices, and drugs in Nigeria.

The correspondence from the association also stated, “Your Excellency, this unprecedented adventure and needless gamble of the Minister of State will bring about a monopoly and stock-outs in the supply value chain of syringes because it is a little too hasty and brash.

“We need to raise salient pointers here, Your Excellency, to enable you to appreciate the dangers ahead and the national sabotage Dr Alausa is taking Nigeria through. These include: Why is it possible to bring substandard products into Nigeria with the array of regulators at the designated ports of entry?

“What philosophy encourages the dumping of products including drugs and other health commodities more than the Open Drug Market (ODM) phenomenon which we have been trying to deal with decisively in contrast to the Hon. Minister of State who has through his unlawful circular now jeopardized efforts to lease the ignominious status quo of using ODMs as the medium for distributing regulated products in Nigeria”

The ACPN claimed that out of the 34 distributors identified in Alausa’s document, over half, equivalent to 52.94%, are involved in the illegal open drug market, with seven each in Lagos’ Idumota and Kano. The association stated that the relocation of these markets in Anambra’s Headbridge and Abia’s Ariaria markets by the Federal Government involved costs amounting to millions of naira.

Criticizing the minister’s decision,ACPN stated, “Minister of State who has through his unlawful circular now jeopardised efforts to lease the ignominious status quo of using ODMs as the medium for distributing regulated products in Nigeria.

“The lamentations of the Hon. Minister to wit “Out of the nine local pharmaceutical companies that produced needles and syringes eight years ago, six have folded up due to dumping of largely substandard goods into our market”.

“These jibes amount to political phoenixism. This is an economic principle where an organisation in the bid to meet the totality of its commitments changes the nature of the game but continues to use the old management methodologies to run the organization to meet its goals.

“The ACPN as the technical group of the PSN which is the natural habitat of the largest assemblage of distributors and marketers of drugs, consumables, chemicals, medical devices, and other health consumables remains a strong advocate of local manufacturing.

“The ethos and tenets of commerce suggest that competitiveness brings out the best in terms of quality and pricing index to the advantage of consumers in all global assessments.

“Even if we choose to jeopardise WTO treaties to which we are signatories because of national interest, it must be guided by recent experiences in the commodity segment markets..”