The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 12 pharmaceutical companies and eight Drugs Management Organizations (DMOs) to produce medicines.
Speaking during the exercise Thursday in Abuja the director general of NHIA, Prof. Mohammed Sambo, said the companies would brand 33 medicines for the organization in the next one month.
He said the initiative of branding NHIA medicines and other health products was to facilitate the supply of “affordable, acceptable, accessible, available and quality medicines and other health products. “
While saying that the initiative was geared towards the strengthening of local pharmaceutical manufacturers, he added that it would ultimately guarantee medicine security.
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He said it would also help to reduce the cost of medicines especially that of intravenous fluids, saying it will reduce by as much as 50% of the current market price.
Sambo said the NHIA had chosen seven states: Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Niger, Osun and Sokoto as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the pilot phase of the initiative.
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