AI will improve Nigeria’s pharmaceutical research capabilities — Adelusi-Adeloye

The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, NAPHARM, wants pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, and medical professionals in the country to use artificial intelligence, or AI, to improve pharmaceutical research and the discovery of new and better drugs and medicines.

Former Minister of Health, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, made the call in Lagos during the investiture of 20 new Fellows of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, NAPHARM, calling for the creation of an enabling environment that would allow meaningful research development.

The Academy’s President, Adelusi-Adeluyi, lauded global progress in the areas of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning and the benefits for Nigeria, saying the government of Nigeria must continue to think outside the box in order to increasingly capitalize on the revolution in the new digital phenomenon.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is assisting in making pharmaceutical research and new drug discovery less expensive and definitely more productive,” he says. Researchers realize that in the time it would have taken to manually test the efficacy of a handful of chemical molecules, AI can test hundreds of different chemical molecules.

“With AI, we can therefore create better, safer, and more affordable medicines in a much shorter time frame.” In addition to assisting in the provision of basic facilities such as clean water and electricity, government policy must be such that AI can take root and grow on its own,” he added.

He emphasized the importance of Nigeria committing to producing active manufacturing ingredients (API) for drug manufacturing, given its vast hydrocarbon resources, rather than continuing to rely on imported raw materials.

“Pharmacists must enlighten the political leadership, including today’s presidential aspirants, on this issue and painstakingly interrogate them on their plans for utilizing Nigeria’s oil and gas deposits,” he said.

“The political leadership needs to better understand why a petrochemical industry is critical to Nigeria, and pharmacists have a role not only in driving this enlightenment but also in actively participating in the electoral process,” he said.

In his presentation titled “Advancing Pharmacy for Economy Prosperity Nigeria,” President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Professor Cyril Usifoh stated that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, should not be a revenue-generating agency because it would cause drug and medicine prices to skyrocket.

Senator Sadiq Umar, a pharmacist, spoke on behalf of the newly inducted members, saying that the inductees from various fields have special responsibilities to the Academy and the pharmacy profession, and he urged the Academy to do everything possible to reposition the profession. He praised the Academy and Nigerian pharmacists for their important role in ensuring the safety of Nigerian citizens.

The formal induction of 20 leading pharmacists into the Academy was the highlight of the event.

Professor Ray Ozolua, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Benin; Kunle Oyelana, Managing Director of GSK Nigeria; Joke Bakare, Managing Director of the Medplus Pharmacy Chain; Chris Ehimen, Executive Director of the Nett Pharmacy Chain; and Babashehu Ahmed, Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN).

Chief Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and the founder of Afe Babalola University, was also inducted as an honorary Fellow of the Academy.