Gom Mirian
In a significant move to ensure the availability and security of essential medicines, the Federal Government has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 12 renowned pharmaceutical companies.
The collaborative effort was unveiled on Wednesday by Prof. Mohammed Sambo, the Director-General, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), during the official signing ceremony of the NHIA Medicines Supply Initiative (NMSI) in Abuja.
The MOU is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to address the challenges surrounding medicine availability and security, for thr benefit of the populace and to ensure the nation’s healthcare system runs efficiently.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Sambo expressed gratitude for the collaboration, eemphasising that the initiative would strengthen local pharmaceutical manufacturers and boost medicine security.
According to him, seven states – Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Niger, Osun, and Sokoto states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – were chosen for the initiative’s experimental phase. He added that a total of 44 submissions were received from pharmaceutical companies and destination management organisations (DMO).
“The submissions were scrutinised and synthesised by the selection committee and 20 companies and eight DMOS were selected to provide services for the initiative.
“Negotiations were held with the selected Pharmaceutical Companies and DMOS. After the negotiations, an agreement was reached with 12 Pharmaceutical Companies and 8 DMOS. The 12 pharmaceutical companies will be branding 33 products for the health insurance ecosystem in the first phase,’’ he explained.
