Medical experts have lamented exodus of pharmaceutical companies due to lack of conducive environment in the country.
The experts blamed poor electricity, heavy taxes and lack of government support for the exodus of experts and multinational companies.
National chairman Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Wale Oladigbolu, and Osun state chairman of the association, Pharm. Bankole Kamordeen, stated this in Osogbo during the opening of a pharmaceutical company, Friday.
Oladigbolu, who was represented by the state chairman of the Association of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Prof Moses Akanmu, posited that if the government makes the environment conducive, manufacturers would not run away from the country.
Similarly, the CEO of Rizqah Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Kamordeen stressed the need for government to support manufacturers with interest-free loans and provide waiver on raw materials.
He said, the most important thing is to make power supply stable, noting that the amount being spent by manufacturers on diesel daily is enormous.
“The raw materials needed for production should be waiver in terms of the forex exchange. If the manufacturers are allowed to purchase at normal rate, it is not going to be easy for many manufacturers. There should be an intervention on waiver of the forex exchange for the manufacturer.
“The equipment being used by the manufacturers should be made tax free. As we have in many developed countries, the government should support manufacturers with money (interest-free) and provide good security.”
He enjoined the younger ones in the profession to think of how to pay back to the country, saying Nigeria has tried to train medical students in a way to make the study affordable to them.
Also, a consultant surgeon, Dr Layi Adeoti, decried the heavy taxes from different tiers of government, which he described as unpleasant for the success of business.
