17042019 - 9th NASS: Fresh crisis looms in APC over leadership slots

36—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2019
With right investments,
future is bright for
Nigerian pharma industry
— Abbas Virji, CEO Shalina Healthcare Ltd.
By Sola Ogundipe
THE future is bright for
the
local
pharmaceutical
manufacturing industry in
Nigeria if adequate
measures and investments
are made to develop the
largely untapped potential.
The Chief Executive
Officer, Shalina Healthcare
Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Abbas
Virji, said the company was
interested in employing
smart Nigerians.
"My job as the Chief
Executive of our group is
essentially HR, Virji stated.
“I spend about half of my
time on human resources
and I feel my job is to find
smart people with good
ideas, people that are going
to expand our horizon. The
only way we can do that is
if I find people that are
smarter than me.
"I have come across a lot
of smart people in Nigeria
in the pharmaceutical
market. There are qualified
and experienced
professionals working in
the pharmaceutical industry
that have not had
opportunity to utilise their
knowledge and for us, part
of our responsibility is to
create that opportunity and
the environment where
people can leverage their
skills and knowledge and
make meaningful
contribution."
Abbas said they try to
recruit people with
experience and support
them by bringing in new
talent that they can train
and invest in so that they
can continue to follow their
systems
"There are excellent
pharmaceutical companies
here, however we really
want to be the best in Africa
by adding value, being at
the forefront of innovation
and doing what we need
to do to make investments
where we can generate
returns and create value.
"It is a logical step for us
to make these investments
as there is no way the
number of factories we
have currently can cater to
the demand that we have,
so there is a shortage. There
is a gap - a supply and
manufacturing gap, and it
makes sense that if we are
serious players and
interested to be here for the
long term, we need to make
Part of our
responsibility
is to create
opportunity
and the
environment
where
people can
leverage
their skills
and
knowledge
PharmAccess, others harp on PPP for quality
healthcare in Nigeria
By Chioma Obinna
TO achieve a
Universal Health
Coverage, UHC, health
professionals and other
stakeholders in the health
sector have said that Public-
Private-Partnership was
inevitable in delivering
quality health care in
Nigeria.
Speaking at a policy
dialogue tagged:
"Disrupting Healthcare -
PPPs as a model Adoption
for Health System
Strengthening in Nigeria",
the Country Director,
PharmAccess Foundation,
Ms. Ndili Njide, who noted
that government cannot
solve the problems in the
health sector alone said
Universal Health Coverage
can only be achieved
through quality and
affordable health care
delivery.
According to her, there is
a need to deploy an
integrated approach to
tackle identified challenges
in the health sector.
Njide explained that the
purpose of the PPPs in the
health sector was to try
different solutions to break
cycles of challenges.
"The aim is to disrupt the
health care system in a
positive way. "PPPs strategy
is capable of covering the
infrastructure challenges in
the health sector. The fund
government is
appropriating in the budget
is clearly not enough. So,
the Federal and State
governments will clearly
have to collaborate with the
private sector to fill this
gap," she stated.
On his part, Lagos State
Commissioner for Health,
Dr Jide Idris, said the old
methods of leaving
everything to the
government can no longer
work as a lot of challenges
investments in where
those gaps exist.”
In his views, if you use
good quality
manufacturing and
packaging materials, you
will generate good quality
finished products.
"You get this done
through the processes
and systems that you
implement and we make
sure the employees are
following the systems and
processes through
training.
Giving an assessment of
the pharmaceutical
are coming up.
"A lot of things are
changing, disease pattern
is changing, other things
are coming up, and
technology is taking over
the health space. We
cannot but move along
with all these things, we
cannot continue to do
things the old way,
especially when we know
the challenges we have in
the health sector. We have
challenges in
infrastructure, challenges
at the different level of
care, human resources is
a major challenge right
now. We have public
health issues that people
don't even focus on, and
disease pattern is
changing, resources are
not available.
Continuing, the State
Commissioner argued
that no government in
Nigeria is adequately
funding the health sector
* Mr. Abbas Virji
industry, the Managing
Director, Shalina Healthcare
Ltd., Mr. Somnath Malakar,
said the prospects of
harnessing the potentials
are huge.
Malakar, who spoke
during the business partner
conference held by Shalina
Healthcare Ltd. in Lagos,
said no multinational could
survive in a country if it does
not have plans to grow the
local industry.
His words: "The local
pharmaceutical industry of
Nigeria, first and foremost
has a huge potential and
every company operating in
this country has to play its
role not only in the global
even when every citizen
wants quality and efficient
service delivery.
"At the primary care level,
I can tell you we have at
least 120 wards with no
facility at all and there are
people leaving there, we
have 64 slum areas in Lagos
that have no health facility
as well and we have private
sector people in those areas
who can perform these
function."
Idris insisted that there
must be a partnership and
that is the way forward for
the health sector in Nigeria.
Speaking, Business
Development Director,
Medical Credit Fund, Mr
Olufisayo Okunsanya,
noted that trust and
accountability were needed
to ensure that money spent
for the right reasons are
accounted for as long as
there was global partners'
involvement in funding
health care in the country.
market, but to protect their
brands and consumers”.
" I think the government
also will have to facilitate
the entire ecosystem, so that
it helps the companies to
function and operate
seamlessly to be able to take
the business and the
industry forward."
Malakar said Shalina has
a lot of faith in the future of
Nigeria's local industry and
that’s the reason why we
are investing in it.
"We really think that there
is a bright future. There is
a huge potential in this
industry and I think we are
just at the tip of that
juncture where is it going
to take off very shortly for
SYNLAB relocates to
Victoria Island
By Chioma Obinna
FOR improved services,
the Management of
SYNLAB, formerly Pathcare
Laboratories has
announced the relocation of
its Victoria Island branch to
Adetokunbo Ademola
Street, Victoria Island,
Lagos.
Speaking on the relocation,
Dr. Tolulope Adewole,
Executive Director,
Operations, SYNLAB
Nigeria, said “Our new
location is more spacious
with more than double the
previous phlebotomy room
capacity, reducing waiting
time for our clients.
The new location offers
better parking facilities,
while the modern interior
and improved customer
care is poised for a better
customer experience.”
He urged residents and
those who work on the
Island to “come and visit us
at our new home and
experience healthcare as it
should be, and not what we
the better.
"That is the reason we as
a company are investing in
the future of the local
industry and why initiatives
such as the Shalina Young
Talents Award, SYTA, is
catching young talents,
trying to build relevance
and saliency of our brand
to them, so that tomorrow,
when they become
professionals and go into
different fields, they carry
us along with them as well.”
On the premise that India
has been quite successful
in manufacturing to the
extent that it has over 9,000
pharmaceutical industries
as against 450 in the whole
of Africa, Malakar noted
specific lessons for Nigeria.
"To begin with, there are
two simple but effective
lessons," he said.
"One is to groom local
talent, because no matter
how globally a company
operates, unless it localised
and suits itself to the needs
of the region or country, it
is going to be difficult in the
coming days for the
company to be successful in
that country.
"Number two is that
people will have to adopt
technology, that is the truth
that nobody can run away
from. Competition is
always going to be there
and things will get more
difficult and competitive.
“The situation may get
worse because there will be
many elements which will
not be in our control. The
only way we can cope up
with this will be through
adopting technology as one
of our enablers.
know it as.”
SYNLAB presently offers
access to more than 5,000
tests, including some of the
most advanced genetic
tests. The company prides
itself in the reliability and
accuracy of their test
results.
In line with its vision to
make healthcare accessible,
SYNLAB has also opened
a new ultra-modern
laboratory in Abuja and a
patient care centre in
Calabar during the first
months of 2019.
Construction is already
underway on its Abeokuta
facility.
Over the past 15 years,
SYNLAB has brought
international expertise,
world-class healthcare, new
specialised services and
enhanced medical
diagnostic to Nigerians.
The SYNLAB Group,
Europe’s number one
medical diagnostics
provider, operates in more
than 40 countries across
four continents.