What operates in Nigeria’s NHIS is an aberration — Odukoya, Vanguard Pharmacy

Pharm. Taofik Odukoya, the CEO of Vanguard Pharmacy and Lead Facilitator, Rock City Pharmalliance, a network of pharmacists working together to improve medication access and train pharmacists, in this interview with SADE OGUNTOLA, says that access to medications at odd hours of the day remains a challenge in Nigeria although community pharmacists have been saving lives.

WHY do you see opening more and more pharmacies as a means to increase access to quality care and medicines?

For us in Vanguard Pharmacy, access to medicines is actually one of the major driving forces. It is the driving force behind our multi branches operation.  As of today, penetration of health care at different hours of the day is actually a big challenge even in major cities, including Ibadan. What happens to people that need access to healthcare late at night and in the early hours of the morning? In Vanguard Pharmacy, we provide answers by ensuring that we don’t just open to cover the major part of the day, we also ensure that the business is available all year round irrespective of any religious or national holiday.

How do you want to target those that only want their drugs delivered at their doorsteps. Do you have facilities for that?

Yes, we do. We have the capacity to deliver medications to people all year round and where ever they are in all parts of Nigeria. In fact, our partnership in delivering medications across the length and breadth of Nigeria is one of the strongest alliances in the industry. We have been able to take medications to locations that you wouldn’t imagine; even to people’s hospitals’ beds in ensuring their needs are met.

We have been able to use the power of social media as well as other online platforms to attract and collect orders from prospective clients. This is the seventh location and, as I said, the capacity to meet demand online and across different social media platforms gives us that scale that is also required to achieve increased access to quality drugs.

In the years to come, where do you see pharmacy in Nigeria, including access to medicines?

Fortunately, with the advent of technology, the kind of scale that is desired in the pharmacy space is also changing. Now we have big players, visionary players and other young minds in the pharmacy space who understand the challenge of access in Africa and in Nigeria in particular. We are all taking the challenge on ourselves because we have the requisite investments in people and infrastructure to actually make sure that access to quality medicines is achieved across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Within the next five years, a lot of brands like Vanguard Pharmacy will provide more access to medicines via physical and online mediums to make sure we reach people wherever they are.

There are indications that some drugs might be pulled out of Nigeria’s importation list for drugs due to NAFDAC’s policy that groups granted waivers after five years should commence local production. How do you see this stand by NAFDAC?

The policy surrounding some waivers granted for some drugs to be imported into the country is very clear. Some of the waivers will expire as the five years is elapsing. It is expected that such companies who enjoyed the waiver should have ploughed back enough profit to pivot into local production of such medications.

However, the government should not be too hasty in taking such a decision, as some of the gains such companies enjoyed during the waiver period might have been eroded in the last year as a result of the disruption in the global supply chain and the global economic downturn due to the covid-19 pandemic.

They talk about conglomerate pushing for different things, including drugs. Do you see this helping to ensure access to quality and affordable medicines in the country?

The big players are here with us already in the pharma space. It is expected that they will come in with the much-needed funds and expertise to make the industry better from what is it today and in turn create more access to medicines for the patients. We, the indigenous players are already pulling strength together to ensure our business remains relevant in ensuring medication access to the people of Nigeria. Pharmalliance is Africa’s premier retail pharmacy business network that allows the business to access a common pool of shared resources with the sole aim of ensuring community pharmacies are well run to improve medication access to millions of Nigerians. The group currently boasts of over 150 community pharmacies in her network, serving medications to millions of patients in Nigeria yearly.

Do you see this giving your profession an edge over big financiers who are not pharmacists but deal in medicines?

Yes, networks like Pharmalliance is already giving the professionals the much-needed support in terms of both financial and non-financial resources. This obviously allows the Pharmacists in the network to compete more and drive the charlatans out of business.

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We run a free market, where the financiers determine what is sold and its cost. So, is it different in pharmacy although pharmacists say they should be the only one’s handling medications?

Drugs and medicines are highly regulated products. They are not just an article of trade and as such must be under the strict control of the Pharmacist. This has been affirmed by World Health Organization (WHO) on numerous occasions. However, Investors (money bags) have their role to play, as is the case in every part of the world, but they do so by obeying all laid down rules of engagement.

It will interest you to know that Nigeria is still one of the few places in the world where drugs and medicines are still sold in open markets and under very poor conditions. This is what the professionals’ frown at and have been asking the government to do the needful. We cannot, in the name of access to medications, continue to allow the charlatans to dish out unwholesome medications as every life lost due to this menace cannot be recovered.

Listening to other schools of thought, they will say faking and counterfeiting drugs is not about non-professionals handling drugs. How true is this?

Faking and counterfeiting is a global challenge and the industry runs into billions of dollars annually. Countries with tracing and a standard drug distribution channel suffer more than those with regulated channels.

However, poor handling of medications is another major challenge bedevilling our country as medications have very strict instructions under which they must be stored, the professionals have their license at stake and they are regulated by the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria. When they are found wanting, they are easily disciplined.

The market trend, purchasing power of Nigerians and health insurance; where do you see all these taking us as a country and how can pharmacists maximize health insurance to ensure access to quality drugs for Nigerians?

The fundamental issue with NHIS is also obvious. Imagine, it is only in Nigeria that the control of medications is not totally in the hands of pharmacists in the health insurance. The hospital should be made to see patients and generate prescriptions that the patients must take out to be filled in a Pharmacy, except in emergency situations. What operates in Nigeria is an aberration where the control is in the hands of one professional and this does not promote transparency and patient confidence in the system.

The reimbursement process is another issue that must be looked into. Direct payment to Pharmacies without a third-party involvement is important and should be strictly based on the number of medications dispensed directly to the patient.  All professionals should be allowed to do their professional work and get paid directly based on the work done.

There are accusations that community pharmacist tends to make more people go into self-medication and sometimes delay seeking medical attention at the hospital. Is this true?

I don’t agree with this. In fact, what you will see is the fact that community pharmacies and pharmacists have actually helped access healthcare. In this part of the world, we are talking about point of care, access to medication guidance by pharmacists and so on being made available at many community pharmacies.

So, the issue of access to medication in community pharmacy is not aiding self-medication but rather ensuring early referral of cases that need prompt medical care to the hospital where need be. It is indeed a value-adding service to the healthcare system at large.