The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, on Monday in Abuja said that Nigeria is at a great risk of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Speaking at a press conference, Adeyeye said drug insecurity exposes the country to danger, lamenting the effect of a country importing most of its pharmaceutical products.
Nigeria imports at least 70 percent of its drugs annually from China and India. Such imports reportedly gulped $402.8 million in 2018.
Speaking at the briefing on the upcoming African Medicine Quality Forum (AMQF) meeting in Abuja, Adeyeye said Nigeria should start praying because it is exposed to great risk following the outbreak in China.
“Seventy percent of our drugs are imported and the alarm I am sounding now is one everybody should take seriously. We have drug insecurity because of the coronavirus.
“India is already feeling it because they buy most of their materials and active ingredients from China. If India is feeling it, we should start praying because we don’t manufacture anything here except water. We import almost everything – active and non-active ingredients, equipment etc.
“So it is a scary thing, and I have been emphasizing this from day one; we need drug security. Since we import 70 percent of our drugs, then, we are in trouble if such things happen,” she said.
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China has reached 1,770 with more than 70,500 cases reported.
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