By Haggai Daniel, Abuja
The Federal government has called on the private sector to play a stronger role in advancing Nigeria’s health system by investing in local production, standardisation and maintenance of medical equipment.
Speaking at the commissioning of the national secretariat of the Healthcare Equipment and Allied Products Providers Association of Nigeria (HEPAN) in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Adekunle Salako, said the association’s initiative aligns with the government’s Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which focuses on improving governance, access to care, and health security through industrialization of the health sector.
He urged HEPAN members to contribute actively to the “unlocking of the health value chain” by ensuring the availability of quality infrastructure, equipment, medical devices, and diagnostics.
According to him, achieving accurate diagnoses and improving health outcomes depend on the use of reliable and well-maintained technologies.
Salako encouraged the association to help reduce equipment downtime in hospitals through training and collaboration with healthcare institutions.
He stressed that eliminating the use of substandard medical devices and reagents requires full commitment from industry stakeholders.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to public-private partnerships, the minister noted that the administration is promoting self-reliance in medical technology production.
He highlighted that the Presidential Executive Order of June 28, 2024, which removed tariffs, import duties, and VAT on vital raw materials, provides a strong incentive for local manufacturing.
Salako commended HEPAN’s leadership and members for their contributions to Nigeria’s health system and reaffirmed that the country remains open for business and domestic manufacturing in its pursuit of universal health coverage.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) also commended HEPAN for the edifice, noting that it underscored the importance the association attached to sanitising the sector
The Mandate Secretary for Health Services and Environment, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe described the establishment of the HEPAN secretariat as “a key cornerstone event” for improving quality healthcare delivery in the FCT and beyond.
Represented by Pharmacist Boniface Iku, the Mandate Secretary said, “The Secretariat and the association stand for standards in medical equipment, calibration, and sourcing of quality and standardised equipment.
“We align with their goals because such equipment form the bedrock of ascertaining medical outcomes.
“The results from your tests drive what kind of treatments and drugs are given to patients. That is why standardisation is critical to achieving reliable healthcare outcomes,” Fasawe noted.
She also pledged continued collaboration with HEPAN to promote quality assurance, local capacity building, and regulatory compliance in the medical equipment subsector.
Speaking at the event, the FCT Chairman of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Musa Wazani, commended HEPAN for its commitment to quality and collaboration.
“This demonstrates your commitment to ensuring that medical equipment used in Nigeria are certified and standardised.”
He noted that proper standardisation would help curb medical tourism and strengthen public confidence in the health system.
“I believe that HEPAN has the capacity to reduce medical tourism to the nearest minimum by ensuring that standard equipment that meets Nigerian standards and aligns with manufacturers’ specifications are imported into the country.
“This will also address the disturbing trend of patients being referred from one facility to another only to repeat entire analyses due to lack of standardisation.”
The FCT branch Chairman further called on regulatory agencies to enforce validation and verification processes for all medical devices, saying this would help “maintain the integrity of healthcare services and build trust among patients and healthcare providers.”
The President of the Health Equipment and Allied Products Providers Association of Nigeria (HEPAN), Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Nwankwo, says the association is determined to end the importation and distribution of fake and substandard medical devices in the country through strict internal control and self-regulation.
Dr. Nwankwo explained that the association was formed to bring stakeholders in the health equipment sector together to sanitize the market, complement government’s regulatory efforts and reliance on in-country medical device production, address employment gaps and knowledge transfer.
“We decided to organize ourselves to say that the best way to stop the importation of fake drugs or fake medical devices is by we talking to ourselves, internal control. Any external body cannot do that. We know what we do. We know our members,” he stressed.
Dr. Nwankwo said HEPAN was formed to curb the importation of fake medical devices through self-regulation, stressing that only those in the industry can effectively enforce compliance.
He explained that every member must sign a pledge not to import or distribute substandard products, describing it as a core policy of the association.
He further warned that violators would face permanent expulsion from the business, noting that HEPAN’s disciplinary reach covers major medical equipment markets across the country.
According to Nwankwo, members are now shifting toward local manufacturing, with new factories emerging in Port Harcourt and Anambra, in addition to the Federal Ministry of Health pledging to partner with HEPAN to strengthen regulation.
The event brought together key players from government agencies, professional associations, and the private sector to discuss ways of ensuring that only certified and calibrated medical equipment are used across healthcare facilities in the country.
