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NASMS/YOC/MED/SYN5/36/20

REPORT OF VISIT TO NIGERIAN ARMY DRUG MANUFACTURING

COMPANY AND 68 NIGERIAN ARMY REFERENCE HOSPITAL
YABA BY STUDENTS OF YOUNG OFFICERS’ COURSE
MEDICAL 36/20 ON 19 OCT 20

INTRODUCTION

1. One of the core mandates of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps is to

provide best and quick medical care to personnel of the Nigerian Army to
have a functional and healthy force. To achieve this mandate, the Nigerian
Army Small Scale Drug Manufacturing Company (NASDMU) was established
in 1994 to ensure quality and potent intake of drugs for the treatment of
Army personnel, their families and other Sister Services.

2. This later became the Nigerian Army Drug Manufacturing Company

Limited (NADMACO). Drug production started in 1998 with an installed
capacity of producing 760 million tablets and 80 million capsules per
annum. NADMACO Ltd is fully registered with Regulatory bodies such as
the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),
Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN).

3. In 1968, 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Yaba (68 NARHY) was

established for delivery of quality health care to Nigerian Army
personnel.The history of 68 NARHY can be traced to the days of Nigerian

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Civil War which lasted from 1967-1970. The hospital provides a range of
services, both in-patient and out-patient including specialist care at cost-
effective rates compared to other hospitals in its environs. It also serves as
a referral Centre to Nigerian Army Health Facilities, other sister services
and the civilian populace.

4. The Young Officers’ Course (YOC) Med 36/20 visited NADMACO and
68 NARHY for a guided tour of the facilities. This visit was programmed to
broaden the knowledge of the students of YOC Med 36/20 and improve
their managerial skills. The objective of the visit was to consolidate student
knowledge on lectures and presentation received on the various concepts
and techniques in planning and management of personnel and resources.

5. The theme of the visit was “Harnessing the Logistic Attributes of 68

Nigerian Army Reference Hospitals, Yaba (NARHY) and Nigerian Army Drug
Manufacturing Company (NADMACO) for logistics support of the NA in
contemporary health issues”. The purpose of this paper is to present a
report on the educational visit of YOC (Med) 36/20 to 68 NARHY and
NADMACO. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with these NA
institutions, however, this paper is limited to lectures and information
made available to us in the course of the visit and it is written to Ag
Commandant and NASMS.

AIM

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To present a report on the educational visit of students of YOC Med 36/20

to selected military facilities with a view to making recommendations.
SCOPE
5. To achieve this aim, the presentation will cover the following:

a. Brief conduct of the visit to both facilities

b. The basic logistics, concepts, arrangement policies of both

establishments,
c. Arrangement policies of both establishments,
d. Strategic importance of 68NARHY and NADMACO to the Nigerian
Armed Forces.

e. Achievements, challenges and prospects of both establishments.

BRIEF CONDUCT OF THE VISIT

6. The trip commenced at about 0730 hours when the students of YOC
Med 36/20 left the Nigerian Army School of Medical Sciences led by
the Director of Studies, Col F Tibetan. The team arrived NADMACO
at about 0900hours and was warmly welcomed by the Acting
Managing Director of NADMACO, Col LD Buba. We had a brief and
guided tour of the establishment and left the facility at about
1130hours and proceeded to 68 NARHY.

7. On arrival to 68 NARHY at about 1230hours, we were ushered into

the Conference Hall and given a brief of the facility by the Acting Chief

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Medical Director, Col SO Solomon, thereafter, taken on a guided tour of the

facility. We departed the establishment after a light refreshment at
about 1430hours and arrived NASMS at about 1530hours. The overall
conduct of the students was commendable and the trip was hitch free.
THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF NIGERIA ARMY DRUG
MANUFACTURING COMPANY
8. The establishment of NADMACO was borne out of provision of
effective and efficient healthcare delivery as well as insulating personnel
from the scourge of fake and adulterated drugs.
9. The company has a board of Directors comprising of 11 members.
The company is headed by the managing Director, assisted by a deputy
managing director and heads of production lines.

10. Departments. The drug manufacturing facilities of NADMACO are

divided into 6 departments which are the production, Quality Assurance,
Packaging, Logistics and Maintenance, and Human Resource Management
departments.
a. Production Department. Equipment in this department
includes Blending Machine, Fluidized Bed Dryer, Tableting Machine,
Encapsulation, and Blistering Machines.
b. Quality Assurance. The quality assurance department
handles Instrumentation, Physicochemical properties, fume Chamber
and Oven and a primary and Secondary Water Treatment which has
a Borehole, water Tank, Oxidation Tank, Filter Beds and Filter Media.

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c. Packaging. The Packaging department makes the product

more aesthetically appealing to the end users. They also provide
relevant information about the products some of the activities in this
department includes coding, sorting and bulk packaging.
d. Logistics. The logistics department also refers to as store,
handles raw materials, packaging materials, finished products and
cold store.
e. Maintenance. The maintenance department handles
maintenance and repair workshop, Electrical Power Generation,
Boiler/Steam Generation, Water Generation and Purification.
f. Human Resource Management. This department handles
the recruitments, training and overall welfare of the staff.

OPERATIONS OF NADMACO
11. NADMACO had over the years developed a number of products of
high quality for the Nigerian army. The medical supply products includes,
Antibiotics, Antimalarials, Anti-inflamatory, Antihypertensive drugs and
other medical consumables including hand sanitizers in response to Covid-

19 pandemic.
a. NADMACO Products Range. NADMACO Limited is
responsible for the production of a range of high quality medicines.
b. Research and Development. The organization is involved
in Research and Development of newer products. The Company has
been able to progressively substitute expensive excipients with

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materials that can be sourced cheaply and locally without

compromising the therapeutic efficacy of the finished products.
c. New Products Development. The company has
spearheaded the development of new products such the Artemisinine
Combination Therapy powder for reconstitution used in the treatment
of malaria in children. Other products that have reached advanced
stages include: Ciprofloxacin, Erythromycin, NA bottled water and
Metformin, to be known as NAPROCIN, NATROCIN, NATFORMIN and
NAQUA respectively.

BASIC LOGISTICS AND ARRANGEMENT POLICIES OF NADMACO

12. Basic Logistics of NADMACO is handle by the logistics department. It
handles raw materials, packaging materials, finished products and cold
store.

TRAINNING AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT OF

NADMACO
13. Production and Quality Assurance Staff are sent to attend paid
courses with a step down in-house training done on completion of the
courses.

14. NADMACO is a center for training members of National Youth

Service Corps (NYSC) and students on industrial training under the
Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES).

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF NIGERIAN ARMY DRUG

MANUFACTURING COMPANY TO THE NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES

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15. Armies all over the world are designed to be self-sustaining.

NADMACO fits in strategically to play the key role of making the NA self-
sufficient in drugs production.

16. NADMACO can be repositioned with adequate funds and technology

to locally produce most of these medicines such as antimalarias,
antiretovirals, and many others provided by donor agencies.

ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF NADMACO

17. NADMACO has made tremendous achievements from its initial
installed capacity. There has been a substantial increase in production line
with increase in number of products. The achievements of NADMACO
include the following:
a. Successful Continuous Supply of NHIS Drugs.
b. Development and Production of First Aid kits
c. Purchase of Air Compressor Machine.
d. General Renovation of the Factory.
e. Purchase of Heating Ventilating Air Condition and De-humidifier
(HVAC).
f. Merit Award. As a result of the Company turning out quality
drugs, the Company has been recognized by various regulatory
agencies and given several awards. Among which are:
(1) “Best Entrepreneur Award” under the Small and Medium
Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS) 2004.

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(2) Outstanding Collaboration Award from University of

Ibadan for contribution in training students of the university
under the students Industrial Work Experience Scheme
(SIWES) 2010.
(3) Good Manufacturing Practice Certificate from NAFDAC on
Nartel.
(4) African Quality Achievement Awards 2015. Nacemol,
which is the brand of Paracetamol from NADMACO was
adjudged Africa’s Best Quality Paracetamol Brand of the
year 2015.
g. Corporate Social Responsibilities. As enshrined in the
Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (Amended); NADMACO, in addition to being
a training ground, perform other social responsibility such as employment
of soldiers’ wives, children and relatives, selling of prescribed over the
counter drugs to officers, soldiers and their families at very marginal cost,
as well as production of portable water for the immediate environment,
just to mention a few.

CHALLENGES OF NADMACO
18. NADMACO is confronted with the following problems and challenges:
a. Inability to Directly Source Raw Materials.
b. Ageing Equipment.
c. Eractic Power supply

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d. Chaotic Drugs Distribution Channels.

GUIDED TOUR OF THE FACILITIES OF 68 NARHY

19. A guided tour of the facility was undertaken, ably led by the
Administrative officer. The hospital plays hosts to specialized departments
which were visited.

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS OF 68 NARHY

20. The hospital is organized into Administrative and Clinical Services
departments. The hospital is headed by a Chief Medical Director assisted
by other administrative staff. He oversees both administrative and clinical
services of the hospital. The chief clinician heads the clinical services,
ensures the day to day running of the clinical services and reports to the
CMD directly.

21. The hospital staff is made up of Officers and Men of the NA, Ministry
of Defence Staff, Temporary staff (including consultants) and Interns. The
main source of funding for the hospital is from NHIS by way of capitations
paid through Defence Health Maintenance Limited (DHML). However, these
funds from DHML are irregular and hardly enough to run the hospital
effectively. The departments in 68 NARFHY include:
Surgery Ear, Nose and Throat Obstetrics and Gynecology Internal Medicine
Paediatrics, dental, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health information Management,
Physiotherapy, Public health, Pathology, Radio diagnosis and Dietetics.

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22. The pathology department is equipped with the latest diagnostic

equipment. It hosts one of the few centers that carry out CD4 count and
HIV Viral load in the country. Other available investigations are Gene Xpert,
wide range of hematological, chemistry and microbiological tests. The
center has a collaboration with the African Cohort Study.

23. The wards are mostly new with modern facilities. The visited areas
include: male and female (medical), male and female (surgical) and
orthopedic wards.

24. In addition, notable is the accident and emergency department

located close to the entrance of the hospital and serves as the point of
entry for emergency cases into the hospital services.

25. The dental department is one of the newly constructed facilities in

the hospital. It is equipped with state of the art dental equipment and
boasts of becoming one of the best equipped dental centre in the country
when eventually commissioned.

26. The Heath information management department is the first point of

contact of the patients before accessing medical care. It presently
functions as just a health record, as facilities for health information and
management are not yet in place.

BASIC LOGISTICS AND ARRANGEMENT POLICIES OF 68NARHY

27. The main source of funding for the hospital is from NHIS by way of
capitations paid through Defense Health Maintenance Limited (DHML).

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However, these funds from DHML are irregular and hardly enough to run
the hospital effectively. Others source of funding are from privates
sources.

TRAINNING AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT OF 68 NARHY

28. The 68 NARHY plays very important emphasis on training and human
resource development of its staffs. The Institution is co-located with the
Nigerian Army school of nursing where highly skilled nurses are been trained
for the benefits of the Army and the Civilian populace. Interns and House
officers make due use of the conductive and highly furnished technologically
equipped environment to enhance their educational scientific and medical
skills.

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF 68 NARHY TO THE NIGERIAN ARMED

FORCES
29. 68 NARHY is a strategic hospital for the Armed forces. It provides cut-
edge, top level medical and surgical services at the tertiary level of care for
officers and soldiers of the armed forces of Nigeria and their families. The
high quality of care available also had drawn a large pools of civilians’
patronage to the facility within Lagos provinces and beyond.

30. 68 NARHY serves as a tertiary care centre for the support of casualties
from the different operations been conducted by the Army. It provides

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surgical and subspecialty cares for cases referred from Operation Lafia Dole
in conjunction with the reference hospital in Kaduna.

ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF 68 NARHY

31. The 68NARHY has thrived in some areas which make it a reference
point in terms of quality health care delivery. The following are the
achievements recorded by the hospital:
a. Achievement of a 5 star status by the laboratory during the
assessment by Strengthening Laboratory Management Towards
Accreditation (SLAMATA) and African Society for Laboratory Medicine
(ASLM).
b. Maintenance of environment.
c. Construction of new building facilities for Nigerian Army College
of Nursing.
d. Construction of modern dental, eye clinic and pharmacy
facilities.

CHALLENGES OF 68NARHY
32. The challenges faced by the facility are listed below:
a. Shortage of Manpower.
b. Inadequate Funds for running the hospital

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c. Unsteady Power Supply.

CONCLUSION
33. The students of the Young of Course (Med) 36/20 embarked on an
Educational visit to NADMACO and 68NARHY on 19 Oct 20 in continuation of
the series of activities lined up for the programme. The objective of the visit
was to consolidate student knowledge on lectures and presentation received
on the various concepts and techniques in planning and management of
personnel and resources.

34. NADMACO has great potential for the future as a source of high quality
drugs with great capability of insulating NA personnel from the scourge of
fake and adulterated drugs. The outfit is also an avenue for achieving the
desired professionalism in the NA and harnessing the abundant local natural
resources for drugs production, research and development for the overall
benefit of mankind. It is however being faced with the problems of obsolete
and ageing equipment which requires immediate replacement with modern
ones.

35. The 68NARHY faces challenges such as, shortage of manpower which
is a very pivotal issue. Others are delayed in payment of capitation and
unsteady power supply. The hospital has however despite all odds been able
to carry out the specialist health care delivery it was designed to carry out.

RECOMMENDATION

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35. It is recommended that:

a. AHQ
(1) Should make urgent provisions for the procurement of
modern facilities to replace the ageing and obsolete ones in
NADMACO.
(2) Should liaise with the power holding company of Nigeria
to connect NADMACO to a reliable national grid for adequate and
constant power supply.
b. HQ NAMC
(1) Should collaborate with ministry of defence to employ more
staff and equip 68NARHY.
(2) Collaborate with AHQ to increase capitation to 68NARHY.

NASMS/YOC/MED//36/20
OJO Lt
Oct 20 Syndicate leader

REFERENCES
1. Paper presentation by the Ag Managing Director of NADMACO to
students of YOC (MED) 36/20 dated 19 Oct 20.
2. Brief by the Chief medical director of 68 NARHY to the students of YOC
(MED) 36/20 dated 19 Oct 20.

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