Category: General News

The Federal Government has issued a set of palliatives to help MSMEs wade through the current economic fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, these palliatives reflect the Buhari administration’s determination to support MSMEs and the priority the Federal Government places on small businesses.
The palliatives are:

E-Registration of MSMEs/products at 80% discounted rate over a period of six months.

Zero tariffs for the first 200 micro and small businesses to register on the E-platform.

Waiver on administrative charges for overdue late renewal of expired licenses of micro/small businesses products for a period of 90 days.

 

By Aderogba George
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has cautioned Nigerians to stop the consumption of an organic apple and black currant originating from Australia.

Prof. Moji Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director-General, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the products had been certified harmful for human consumption.

“The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has warned against the consumption of Pure Tassie Organic Apple and Blackcurrant Juice originating from Australia.

“This was due to unacceptable level of patulin (a mycotoxin) which had exceeded the maximum limit in fruit juice,” she said.

Adeyeye pointed out that the level of patulin content in the affected fruit juice can induce liver, spleen and kidney damage.

She added that the toxic level would affect immune system and causes nausea, gastrointestinal disturbance and vomiting.

She said that the name of the is Pure Tassie, an organic apple and blackcurrant juice from Australia.

The D-G implored importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to immediately stop the importation, distribution, sale and consumption of the affected fruit juice.

She urged members of the public in possession of the affected fruit juice to submit stock to the nearest NAFDAC office.

She also called on healthcare professionals and consumers to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of this product to the nearest NAFDAC office through NAFDAC PRASCOR (20543 TOLL FREE from all networks).

Adeyeye said the agency should be reached through pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng or via the NAFDAC ADR e-Reporting platform available at www.nafdac.gov.ng.

By Lucy Osuizigbo- Okechukwu

Awka, Aug.25, 2020 (NAN) Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the  National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said on Tuesday that she inherited a debt of N3.2 billion when she assumed office in November 2017.

Adeyeye speaking  at  an online news conference  to highlight the activities of the agency, said that, however, the debt had been settled.

“I am  happy to inform you that we have been able to pay our debts and we are also training our 2,200 members of  staff to enhance competence , capability as well as productivity.”

According to her, the sum of N7 billion was generated in 2017; while N2.5 billion and N3.1 billion were generated from the agency’s IGR windows in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

She also said that the agency was in dire need of an overhaul to achieve its mandate.

“About 80 per cent of the equipment in the agency ‘s laboratories  are not functioning, directors have no laptops to work with, incessant industrial actions and lack of utility vehicles  are  the many problems facing the agency.

“When I resumed office, it was like being thrown into an ocean of problems, so, I started digging into why the agency got into such debt and how to get out of it.

“For 30 years as a professor, my life has been in the laboratory.

“I was shocked when I saw that 80 per cent of the equipment in the NAFDAC laboratories were not functioning. And everything the agency does requires laboratory tests – from water to drugs, food products, chemicals and others .

“We decided to review and overhaul our operations by adopting quality management system which enables us to upgrade the ICT system to ensure online documentation, computerised transactions, e-registration and e-certification of food and drug products,’’ she said.

“I also met about 6,000 backlog of applications for approval of different products. We also adopted ‘Customer First’ strategy and gave a mandate for the applications to be cleared within two months and it was done.

“Time of approval used to take months but when I came in, the duration for the approval was reduced to 90 days for food products and 120 days for drugs.

“It is very expensive to equip a laboratory as it costs between N270 million and N350 million for one piece of equipment in the laboratory. So,we started to save for the purchase of equipment while we pay off our debt gradually.

“We have seven laboratories across the country and we have bought eight basic equipment, it is not enough because the goal is to have 20 of such equipment, “she said.

Adeyeye said that  the quality management system and customer first strategy adopted had helped to sanitise the agency’s budget and increased its internally generated revenue.

The NAFDAC’s D-G also said that the agency decentralised its operations across the country by establishing 23 directorates for faster and effective service delivery.

According to her, the agency resumed its operations at the nation’s ports and borders in May 2018 to prevent and reduce the influx of substandard and counterfeit products entering the country.

Adeyeye said that the agency was working hard to attain the level-3 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Benchmark System that would enable vaccines to be produced in the country.(NAN)

By Lucy Osuizigbo- Okechukwu

Awka, Aug.25, 2020 (NAN) The National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Tuesday said it received about 40 applications for the approval of herbal formulations  for the treatment of COVID-19 from researchers in the country.

Speaking during an online news conference, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General, NAFDAC, said that the 40 herbal formulations were currently undergoing review to ensure their safety for use.

According to her, if not well researched, herbal medicine could kill fast.

“In March 2019, we inaugurated the Nigerian Herbal Medicine Product Committee (HMPC) to bridge the gap often created between traditional medicine practitioners and researchers.

“COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity and  we have been encouraging traditional medicine practitioner to submit their herbal formulations for evaluation.

“We also developed guidelines on how to register herbal medicine online and the labelling of the product.

“Prof. Maurice Iwu’s  application for approval of a herbal medicine for management of COVID-19, is also part of the 40 applications we are reviewing for safety.

“We use animal for safety test to ensure the formulation will not kill anybody, “she said

Adeyeye said that there was no cure for COVID-19 yet and warned that any claim of cure must be subjected to clinical trials following an approved clinical trial protocol.

“Until a clinical trial is done in a scientific manner, no herbal medicine manufacturer can claim cure or effectiveness to treat COVID-19 associated symptoms.

“I believe that Nigeria’s herbal medicines may be able to cure COVID-19.

“They have a lot of potential and it is time to translate research of herbs into products of proven safety and efficacy, for the benefit of our people, ” Adeyeye said.(NAN)
LCO/BOLA/ERO

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By Aderogba George

Abuja, Sept. 4, 2020 (NAN) The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned the general public not to use ‘Covifor Remidesivir 100 mg Injection for treatment of any illness.

The warning was contained in a statement signed by the agency’s Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

She said that the label on the vaccine indicates that it was “Not for distribution in US, Canada or EU”, thus creating suspicion about its efficacy and could also have negative effect on the body system.

“The product is suspicious, and it could possibly be a falsified product, the general public is hereby warned to desist from the use of such product,” Adeyeye stressed. (NAN)

By Kemi Akintokun

Lagos, Sept. 8, 2020 (NAN) The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged herbal medicine practitioners to collaborate with researchers to make herbal products internationally acceptable after clinical trials.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the agency, made the plea on Tuesday.

Adeyeye said in a statement that the African Traditional Medicines Day that holds every Aug. 31 should be a daily reflection of who we are as Africans.

She said that many Nigerians were using herbal medicine every day.

“NAFDAC has been focussing on making traditional herbal medicines prominent with regards to its activities.

“To this end, in March 2019, long before the advent of COVID-19 in Nigeria, we called for a meeting of all stakeholders including academia, herbal medicine practitioners and legal practitioners.

“The essence of the meeting was to engender a culture of collaborative efforts aimed at promoting research, discovery and production of herbal products,” she said.

According to her, herbal medicines renaissance in Nigeria had already begun.

She said the country has the biodiversity and complementary human capital to sustain herbal medicines production.

“The Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is making loans available to qualified manufacturers of pharmaceutical products.

“The CBN has also launched the Health Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme to fund successful proposals on translational R&D and manufacturing of therapeutics, herbal medicines and medical devices for infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

“In addition, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is funding COVID-19 related herbal medicines clinical trial research through NAFDAC administrative oversight.

“The agency currently has about 40 applications on COVID-19 related herbal medicines submitted by interested parties, many of these are for listing, while only very few are for clinical trials.

“It is important to note that while the listing of herbal product guarantees safety, it is for two years at the first instance.

“An herbal product that has successfully gone through clinical trials would receive NAFDAC full registration and the claims of efficacy and cure can then be made by applicants,” she said.

Adeyeye said that further step to enhance collaborative efforts between the various stakeholders in the herbal medicines industry was the institutionalisation of confidentiality agreement among the parties.

“NAFDAC Legal Services Directorate developed the document and will broker the agreement.

“This is necessary to assure traditional practitioners that intellectual property will not be lost in the process of collaboration.

“The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Trade Mark Office, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion and patent legal practitioners in the area of protection of intellectual property were brought into discussions with the researchers and practitioners by the agency.

“NAFDAC development of modalities for registration of herbal products is to encourage the growth and standardisation of the sector,” the director-general said.

She said that the ultimate goal, with regards to traditional herbal medicines was to come up with products that were not only marketable in the country, but also acceptable globally.

Adeyeye said this could only happen when NAFDAC, as the regulatory authority, subjects products that were submitted for approval to global standards.

She, however, encouraged everyone with products to bring their applications forward.

According to her, registration procedures are already made simple through the published template of required documentation, guidance on registration and clinical trials and the agency’s online platform. (NAN)

KOA/GOK