… wants FG to look into cost of equipment, double registrations, others

… expresses concern over delayed payment for equipment supplied by govt institutions

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Importers and suppliers of medical equipment and allied products in the country have appealed to the federal government to look into the high cost of registration, saying the present exorbitant amount required of them in registering their equipment is not affordable.

This is as they called on the government to look into the issue of delay in payments for supplies made to institutions as according to them, such actions are hindering their smooth operations.

Operating under the aegis of Healthcare Equipment and Allied Products Providers Association of Nigeria,HEPAN, they equally urged the government to stop the age-long delay  in the registration of products by its agencies , noting that such snail-speed approach in the registration process is not necessary.

These were among several key challenges of the association reeled out by its national president, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwankwo, at the weekend, during its 5th Annual General Meeting and National Conference, in Abuja at the weekend.

The event, held with the theme:””Prioritizing Patient Safety in the Marketplace,” and hosted by the Regional Vice President (North) of the association, Dr. Ikechukwu Anyanwu,aimed to sensitize members on dangers of supply or importing substandard medical devices as well as bring to their consciousness the issue of quality control.

Nwankwo ,speaking at the event, regretted the high cost of registration of medical products,noting that the patient is at the receiving end as cost is being transferred,attributing the development to the high cost of some medical bills in the country.

He said:”The key challenges we have in the industry are numerous but I am going to mention just a few. One is product registration: It take a lot of time to register a medical device which is not necessary and two, there is a charge which we call Good Manufacturing Practice,GMP Certificate. They (Government) charge  $11,800,about N19 million just to get a certificate to register a product,which we think is quite exorbitant, it’s not affordable. In any case, this is transferred to the patient and that is why some medical bills are quite high.

” The other one is the regulation of products. Sometimes, we have both the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON regulating the same product, meaning you need to register with NAFDAC and register with SON and in that case, you are paying double. This money is even paid by the importer but transferred to the patient who is the final user.

The other challenge we have is Customs,because there is a codying system they use to do assessment for the tariff. Normally, if it is not well stated, for example if they say a product, maybe globes, is not a precise medical globes, they will think it’s industrial globes and industrial globes go for 20 percent but surgical globes go for 2 percent or five percent, so when they see globes, they charge 20 percent. So, we want them to specify the medical product with a different code whereby they will see that this is a medical product and not an industrial product or a luxury products. “

Speaking further, Nwankwo lamented the prolonged debt by government’s institutions for supplies made to them.

“The other one which is so bad is the prolonged debt by government institutions. When we make supply to government institutions , they don’t pay, sometimes, for two to three years they will not get the money ready, because most of the medical directors are more concerned about retaining their positions. They are not concerned about paying the suppliers that supply the critical equipment they use in their operations! So we want government to look into it, that when we make supply, let the government pay us. These are some of the issues we have, “he said.

He decried the proliferation of the market with substandard products, cautioning members on the dangers of engaging in such unwholesome act.

“The issue of flooding markets with substandard devices, we think it’s unethical to give something that you know will not be useful to the patient. For the patient’s safety, we are non-tolerant to anything substandard, we want to encourage our members to always supply or distribute anything standard, we want to encourage our members to know the dangers of supplying or importing substandard medical devices, it jeopardizes the safety of the patient. These are some of the things we want the public to know, that we are out to maintain standard ,but we want the government to actually help the association by looking at the cost of registration and then when we make our business with the government, let them pay us, “he added.

He explained that while SON is regulating the products,HEPAN on the other hand, does its internal control.

“Part of what we do is what we are doing here-to sensitize them, to educate them because sometimes, they make supply without knowing the implications of what they are doing. And if you don’t know the implications of what you are doing, you may make mistakes in error because you don’t know, so what we are doing is to sensitize our members so they know the dangers of supply or importing substandard medical devices, to bring to their consciousness the issue of quality control, so that when they are importing, they must make sure that the products meets international standard,”he clarified.

Speaking variously at the event,the Chief Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre, FMC Jabi, Prof. Sa’ad Aliyu Ahmed, the President of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, Pamela Ajaye, and Clara Omatseye, while acknowledging the roles being played by HEPAN in the nation’s health sector, highlighted the critical role of quality healthcare equipment in patient safety in the country.

On his part, the Abuja chapter chairman of HEPAN, Ekwedu Ikechukwu Bethrand, explained that it was “out of the burning desire and long expectations for a seamless and better health system in Nigeria through the market place that  HEPAN was born. “