All is set for the branding of 33 drugs towards ensuring that citizens have access to affordable and quality medicines as a result of a partnership between the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

Speaking at a joint press conference Thursday in Abuja, the Director General of NAFDAC, Professor Moji Adeyeye, disclosed that no fewer than 33 drugs would be branded in the pilot 1 of the programme, adding that 12 local pharmaceutical manufacturers are involved for production of 33 different drugs to address the perennial problem of out-of-stock syndrome in the nation’s health facilities.

Under the initiative, 12 Pharmaceutical companies will be branding 33 products for the health insurance ecosystem in the first phase.

It was further disclosed that NHIA has selected seven states which includes, Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Niger, Osun and Sokoto states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the pilot phase of the initiative.

The 33 drugs would be branded with NHIA inscription under the National Health Insurance Authority.

The categories of drugs involved will start from simple to complex, which will be used to address prevailing health conditions in Nigeria, such as malaria, upper respiratory tract infections, childhood illnesses and drugs being used by pregnant women.

Prof Adeyeye stressed that every drug to be manufactured will be certified and approved by NAFDAC – in terms of quality, safety and efficacy.

“The medicines will be tested in the WHO-Prequalified NAFDAC Laboratory”, NAFDAC DG emphasized.

Also, as part of its Post Marketing Surveillance activities, NAFDAC will continue monitoring to ensure that these branded medicines are used exclusively in the nation’s health care facilities.

The medicines are not to be found on the shelves for sale.

The branding of NHIA medicines and other health products was introduced as a way to help eradicate out-of-stock syndrome, as well as ensure quality of its medicines.

It was based on the collaboration with NAFDAC and in line with Executive Order 3 (EO3), that NHIA worked with Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturers whose manufacturing facilities have been approved by NAFDAC as meeting Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements for the procurement of needed medicines.

The NHIA had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with pharmaceutical companies and Drugs Management Organisations (DMOs) for production of 33 drugs.

The manufacturing companies, according to Adeyeye have also had their products registered by NAFDAC.

The operational guidelines are crucial to clarifying the roles, responsibilities, and obligations of various stakeholders in the health sector because access to affordable quality health care for all Nigerians is key on the path to achieving Universal Health Coverage.

The Initiative is also geared towards strengthening Local Pharmaceutical manufacturers, which will ultimately guarantee medicines security.

“This drive to guarantee medicines security has been a deliberate and intentional effort by NAFDAC in the past five years and continues to be on the front burner to ensure that pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are fit for purpose”, she said.

This will help to reduce the proliferation of substandard and falsified medical products.

NAFDAC as a critical stakeholder in the health sector, is mandated to regulate and control the importation, exportation, manufacture, advertisement, distribution, sale, and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, packaged water, detergents and chemicals.

NAFDAC has in the past five years developed a GMP Roadmap which continuously assures that pharmaceutical manufacturers in Nigeria remain compliant with global best practices. The GMP roadmap was designed to guide and help local manufacturers upgrade their facilities and procedures in line with current good manufacturing practice requirements.

This initiative has enabled the Agency establish a baseline for monitoring compliance.

The NAFDAC DG assured that, the Directorate of Registration and Regulatory Affairs will also ensure that appropriate and adequate labelling of the medicines are met in line with the Agency’s labelling requirements and in accordance with NHIA guidelines.

“NAFDAC will continue to collaborate with NHIA to ensure that the terms spelt out in Executive Order 3(EO3) will to be implemented to enable the attainment of Universal Health Coverage as specified in the National Drug Policy”, said Adeyeye.