By Biola Lawal
Flowerbudnews: The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has been commended for placing high emphasis on the growth and development of Nigeria’s local Pharmaceutical industry.
Mrs Josephine Dayilim who is the NAFDAC Director, Northwest Zone, gave the commendation while answering questions in an exclusive interview with Flowerbudnews on NAFDAC efforts, achievements and activities in the past six years.
The Director noted that under Prof. Adeyeye, NAFDAC has now placed ”a great focus on strengthening of the local pharmaceutical companies through international best practices with emphasis on local manufacturing”.
She disclosed that through the initiative of Prof. Adeyeye, NAFDAC now helped local Pharmaceutical industries and manufacturers standardize their operations and productions with World Health Organisation (WHO) assisted audit programmes,
The Director stated that NAFDAC connection of the factories to WHO was now making Nigeria’s Pharmaceuticals to be among the certified companies in terms of turnout of quality and safe products.
(Mrs Josephine Dayilim, NAFDAC Director, Northwest Zone)
‘The gradual strengthening of the pharmaceutical industry is yielding result as exemplified in the recent WHO prequalification of a pediatric product of a local manufacturer, the first in West and Central Africa,”’ Mrs Dayilim stated.
Speaking further on the transformation that is enhancing NAFDAC status locally and globally in the past few years, She said that the culture of NAFDAC had changed to a “Customer-focused and Agency-minded” establishment to safeguard the health of the nation.
She also said that NAFDAC under Prof Adeyeye has achieved a ”paradigm shift for access to medicines which included the introduction of innovative reforms such as the 5+5 policy,
The expansion of NAFDAC’s ceiling list to thirty-four (34) products (aimed at increasing access to quality medicine through local manufacturing), the new policy on establishment of Pharmaceutical Plants in Nigeria, the centralized GMP inspection for Pharma plants and Good Distribution Practice (GDP) inspections.
”The ongoing transformative leadership is reflected in the strengthening of grassroots pharmacovigilance or Post-Marketing Safety Monitoring, expansion of risk-based post marketing surveillance,
”The introduction of a Dossier Management System (an online solution that streamlines the dossier), leading in Africa the development and use of Traceability Information System – a GS 1-driven technology – to give COVID-19 vaccines and ATM commodities’ supply chain visibility and mitigate substandard and falsified medicines, as part of restructuring toward ML4 and WLA status,’: the Director stated.’:
She said that the DG had also ‘:led the Agency in strengthening of the Food industry through emphasis on Food Safety, evidence-based Chemicals and Pesticides Management”.
The Director said that the DG had also inaugurated Nigerian Herbal Medicine Product Committee (HMPC) as a means of fostering research involving herbal practitioners and academic researchers while the intellectual property is protected.
She said that NAFDAC ultimate goal with the DG’s initiative ”is to turn complementary alternative medicines into a research-driven, regulation controlled commercially viable commodities.”
Mrs Dayilim stated that the DG had nstitutionalised Quality Management system (QMS), Increased staff training and standardised destruction of Unwholesome and Fake regulated products ·worth billions of naira across all geopolitical Zones.
She noted that NAFDAC Introduction of the use of track and trace technology to stamp out substandard and falsified medicines and other pharmaceutical products was yielding results.
The Director disclosed that the DG had also strengthened stakeholders engagements with all these resulting in attainment of ISO 9001-2015 in 2019, yearly re-certification, and WHO Maturity Level 3 (ISO 9004) in 2022, a recognition as a well-functioning Agency.
She particularly commended Prof Adeyeye for her efforts in the area of Staff welfare, saying; ‘:the DG has introduced a number of commendable compensation strategies to boost the morale of her workers amongst which are; yearly staff recognition award, retirement benefits for NAFDAC retirees and stipends for laboratory staff”.
‘:The DG has also Improved interpersonal relationship with staff e.g. Expression of emotional intelligence by
the DG during the loss of loved ones by reaching out to staff personally,” she disclosed.
The DG had built more offices across the country, providing a more conducive working environment and institutionaliztion of QMS, Mrs Dayilim noted.
The Director said that Prof. Adeyeye had also ensured timely promotion after examination and decentralization/digitization of the exam process, making it more transparent and reliable.
However, on areas to further improve NAFDAC services to Nigerians, Mrs emphasized the need for provision of internet facilities (Galaxy backbone) in all NAFDAC office.
She also advocated further improvement in staff allowances, increase in the workforce (ROII, ROI and SROs), increment of budgetary allocation and Provision of PPE (overalls).
She counseled on the need to pos Media Personnel (Public Relation Unit) to the North-West Zone and provision of more office equipment such as fridges, deep freezers, computer systems, and laptops.
Mrs Dayilim, who is happily married with children, also advised on the need to Provide creches for nursing mothers in all the states.
She also canvassed nomination of outstanding staff for award from each State/Zone. (Flowerbudnews)
