TheCable

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called on physicians to prescribe medicines in their generic names.

Adewale Oladigbolu, national chairman of the association, said this on Monday during an interview with NAN.

Every medicine has two names: a brand name, which is from the pharmaceutical company that markets the medicine, and a generic name, which is the medicine’s active ingredient that makes it work.

This means different pharmaceutical brands can produce medicines with the the same function but with different brand names.

Oladigbolu said if physicians prescribe medicines in their generic names instead of brands, it would help grow and promote other local brands.

“Why should physicians be prescribing Augmentin when we know that there are hundreds of similar products with the same efficacy available in the market registered by NAFDAC,” he said.

“If a physician writes Amoxicillin clavulanate capsule which is the generic name for Augmentin, the pharmacist can prescribe any available drug in the category.”

The pharmacist said Augmentin currently costs about N25,000 due to the exit of its producer from the country, whereas similar products sell for N2,500, but they perform exact function.

On the exit of pharmaceutical companies and its impact on drugs, both in price and availability, Oladigbolu said companies should give prior notice to the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

He noted that regulations are in place to ensure that companies that intend to exit notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect shareholders.

According to him, similar regulations should be introduced and implemented through NAFDAC to ensure medicine availability and protect patients’ safety.

“The company must file an exit application with NAFDAC indicating details of the products being manufactured, and state how to sustain the availability of such products in the market,” he said.

Oladigbolu said the application would enable NAFDAC to identify the sensitive products, numbers of patients on it and engage stakeholders on alternatives which might include local production or importation.

He said the current open drug distribution market operated in the country was leading to proliferation of counterfeit medicines, and affecting the survival of pharmaceutical companies, leading to the increasing exit from the country.

The ACPN national chairman urged government to remove the import duty on medicine and pharmaceutical raw materials to enhance access to medicines.