2017-03-23 19:41:22
Her Excellency the President of Liberia and the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Heads of State, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf met with a high powered delegation led by the Dr Xavier CRESPIN the Director General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), MrKalilou TRAORE ECOWAS Commissioner for Industry and Private Sector Promotion and MrOkey AKPA, the President of the West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (WAPMA) on March 14, 2017 in Monrovia, Liberia.
The DG WAHO in his introductory speech explained that the advocacy mission was to call for the support of Her Excellency the President of Liberia who is the current chair of ECOWAS to support the efforts of the region to promote local production of medicines in the region in order to guarantee access to quality, safe, efficacious and affordable medicines and vaccines to the citizenry of ECOWAS.
He reiterated that the Common External Tariff (CET) as it relates to pharmaceuticals was not favourable to the promotion of local pharmaceutical production necessitating an amendment which has been reviewed by the ECOWAS CET technical and management committees. He stated that CET is a strong support to the pharmaceutical industry and the Community to ensure access to essential medicines in ECOWAS. He therefore, called for the implementation of CET and regulation of medicines in Liberia. He mentioned that currently the capacity of medicines produced by the pharmaceutical manufacturers in the region is 30%, and that was not sufficient to meet regional demand, therefore the need to step-up. He appealed to the President to advocate the utilization of the CET, encourage the prioritization and promotion of locally produced medicines as well as the patronage by governments of ECOWAS at the next Heads of State Summit. He further elaborated on efforts being put in place by WAHO to ensure the quality of medicines, emphasizing on the progress of regulatory oversights, quality control and the regional and national good manufacturing practices (GMP) roadmaps.
Dr Crespin equally used the opportunity to debrief the President on the planned High Level Meeting on Post-Ebola and restated the commitment of WAHO towards holding the meeting in April 2017. He informed that he has secured the commitment of the President of Togo and also that of the Ministers of Health of member states that were affected by the Ebola crises, including Mali, Senegal and Nigeria. Also, he reported on the efforts of WAHO towards the construction of health facilities at the border areas of Liberia and that an assessment visit was being undertaken by WAHO in collaboration with the Ministry officials.
In his intervention, the Commissioner of Industry and Private Sector Promotion recalled the adoption of the regional industrial policy in 2010 by the authorities of Heads of State and government of which the pharmaceutical sector was considered as a priority sector for consideration in the implementation of the policy. He emphasized on the support and contribution of the ECOWAS Commission towards the formulation and adoption of the ECOWAS Regional Pharmaceutical Plan (ERPP) 2014-2020.
The need to ensure medicine security and self-sufficiency in medicine supply is imperative of which the promotion of local production of pharmaceuticals is very critical. This will not only guarantee self-reliance, it will equally create job, wealth and contribute to the industrialization efforts of the region. He finally reiterated that the CET was a veritable instrument for regulation of import leading to support to local production.
Further to the introduction of the essence of the mission, the President of West Africa Manufacturers Association, corroborated the views expressed by previous speakers and mentioned the critical role of the pharmaceutical sector to the achievement of medicine security in the region. He stated that achievement of medicine security was in tandem with food security and should be the concerns of all both public and private sector. He alluded to the recent challenge posed by the outbreak of the Ebola epidemics and the inability of the region to respond immediately before asking for external help. He stated that with the help of the local industry, a wide range of medicines was now manufactured in the region.
The association includes about 200 pharmaceutical manufacturers in the region of which Nigeria has over 150 followed by Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Benin, Togo and Cabo Verde. The President of WAPMA therefore called on Liberia to take advantage and become a member eventhough the country did not have a pharmaceutical manufacturing plan in place. He observed that with the support of the association, it was very possible to promote investments in the establishment of pharmaceutical plants in Liberia. And to achieve this feat, political will and policy support are very necessary [in terms of creating enabling environment for investors].
Her Excellency the President of Liberia and the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Heads of State, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in her response informed that Liberia relied mainly on donor support for its medicine supply, especially from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, WHO, among others. She welcomed the idea of encouraging local production as demand exceeds supply. She emphasized the issue of quality, testing and adherence to good manufacturing practices by pharmaceutical industries in the region. [The essence of testing of imported medicines is to ensure that fake products are not allowed into the country, which is of primary concern, hence Liberia regarding their limitation to regulate rely on WHO pre-qualified medicines]. She informed that all regional protocols have been domesticated by her government including the CET. She assured of the commitment of her government to the implementation of the CET. She further reiterated the importance of supporting intra-ECOWAS trade as well as trade at the continental level as very critical to fostering regional and continental integrations. She called for concerted efforts toward addressing the issue of free movements of persons, goods and services in the region as a veritable instrument to promote intra-regional trade and economic integration. She also alluded to the importance of trade information exchange considering the fact that cross-border trades are often not recorded in the region.
Finally, she thanked the delegation for visiting Liberia and assured that she would convey the recommendations for support to local pharmaceutical production to the ECOWAS Authorities in due course.
Other members of the ECOWAS/WAHO/WAPMA delegation were: Dr Carlos Brito, Director of the Department of Epidemics and Disease Control, Mrs Sybil Ossei-Agyeman Yeboah, the Professional Officer in charge Essential Medicines and Vaccines (WAHO), Mrs. Florence Awoyale, an Administrator at WAHO, Dr Kemija Ajoku, the Principal Professional Officer (ECOWAS) and Dr Obi Adigwe, the Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
The Liberia Officials who also received the ECOWAS/WAHO/WAPMA delegation were:
ECOWAS Ambassador to Liberia- Hon. Tunde Ajisomo
Minister of Health- Hon Dr. Bernice Dahn,
Acting Minister of Finance- MrAdolphus D. Forkpa,
Minister of Commerce / Industry- Hon. Axel Addy
Minister of Foreign Affairs and ECOWAS Chair of Council, Hon. Marjon Kamara
Commissioner/ Director General, Liberia Revenue Authority- Mrs Elfieda Stewart Tamba
The ECOWAS/WAHO/WAPMA delegation in a group photograph with Her Excellency the President of Liberia and the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Heads of State, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf