Category: General News

Jan. 20, 2022

By Stella Kabruk

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it registered about 400 regulated products
in 2021.

The state Coordinator, Mr Nasiru Mato, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Thursday.

Mato said the products comprised of foods, cosmetics and packaged water.

He added that “it was indeed a success story as NAFDAC in Kaduna State witnessed huge increase in product registration,
with about 400 new foods, cosmetics and packaged water secured in 2021.’’

He said that the deployment of e-registration via Automated Product Administration and Monitoring System (NAPAMS)
had tremendously turned around the registration processes for regulated products.

He added that “the process is seamless, real-time enabled, hassle-free and transparent, and eliminates possible registration bottlenecks.

“With NAPAMS, clients can go online to submit their applications for product registration and renewal of licences.”

The coordinator added that Kaduna State intending manufacturers of NAFDAC regulated products had embraced the technology,
resulting in increase in the number of registered products in the state in recent time.

He stressed that “with NAPAMS, product registration is just a *’click’* away, as vetting of submitted documents can feasibly
and easily be done online”.

He explained that the decentralisation of the registration process for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) product categories
with minimal risk had effectively reduced the possible delay in registration timeline as licenses were now obtained with ease.

“The remarkable accomplishment demonstrates the resilience and determination, as well as the continued support of the Director-General
of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye,” he noted.

He also said that the agency’s focus would be intensified with regards to critical stakeholders and grassroots engagement to ensure greater results and healthy citizenry.

NAN

By Folasade Akpan

Abuja:  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for the promotion of healthy living among Nigerians.

This is contained in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations, NYSC, Mr Eddy Megwa, on Friday in Abuja.

At the ceremony, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, said that youth corps members’ presence in all the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the country would be a good driver of the initiative.

This, she said, was because they would serve as change agents to sensitise Nigerians to the dangers of drug abuse and expired drugs, especially at the grassroots.

She said that the agency’s mandate was to safeguard the health of Nigerians alongside the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

“The MSMEs are the ones that actually drive the economy and having NAFDAC desks in the 774 LGAs will bring NAFDAC closer to the people through the youth corps members,” she said.

The Director-General of NYSC, Maj.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, represented by the Director, Legal Services, Mr Ibrahim Tijani, assured that the scheme would abide by the terms of the MoU.

He commended NAFDAC for the initiative adding that youth corps members would be helpful in the collaboration, given the successes they had recorded in previous national assignments.

Also, Mr Abdulrasaq Salawu, the Director, Community Development Service and Special Projects of NYSC, said the MoU was long overdue.

He added that corps members would always be ready to create awareness on government’s programmes and activities geared toward national development. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng) /Flowerbudnews

By Kemi Akintokun
Lagos,  The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has assured Nigerians that COVID-19 vaccines produced in the country will be of international standard, with the strengthening of the agency.

Adeyeye gave the assurance during the oversight visit of the House of Representatives Committee on COVID-19 to the NAFDAC facilities and COVID-19 laboratory projects in Lagos.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Adeyeye described the Federal Government’s huge spending on the fight against COVID-19 as exemplified by the construction of the new COVID-19 laboratory, as a great achievement for the country.

She said that the laboratory with equipped modern instruments and amenities at the agency was a wake-up call for the country.

She noted with dismay that the health sector had been neglected before the present administration responded through the COVID-19 Committee of the National Assembly, ‘’particularly the members that are here today’’.

She said: “To ensure that the health sector is strengthened, NAFDAC must be strengthened, if the regulatory agency is not strengthened, the industry will not be strengthened.

“We have the African Free trade Agreement already here with us now for the nation’s pharmaceutical industry to take advantage of with quality products.

“There will be a lot of competition and if NAFDAC’s laboratory is not strengthened, we will not be able to compete.

‘’For Vaccines, we are hoping that the vaccine facilities from the public- private partnership will soon happen but if the regulatory agency is not strong, we can make vaccine that will destroy our own people.”

Adeyeye noted that with the agency now very strong with WHO Maturity Level 3 certification, “Nigeria can now make its own vaccines and we can assure the populace that there is quality in whatever is being manufactured because of NAFDAC’s strength”.

On the impact that COVID-19 fund had made, she said, “this should resonate well with the whole country that if you put the right people in the right places, then the vision of the government can be realised.

‘’Whatever approvals that are being given by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on funding our activities, you can actually touch such and this is what has happened here today.”

She commended the COVID-19 committee, and the Healthcare Services committee of the Assembly for committing to ensuring that NAFDAC as a regulatory agency is known internationally.

Speaking, Chairman, House Committee on COVID-19, Haruna Mshelia, commended Adeyeye and her management team for leveraging latest technology to upgrade the agency.

‘’We have seen with our eyes how they have leveraged on latest technology to upgrade the organisation to a standard that is next to none in Africa. I think they need to be commended.

“We have seen the warehouse. We have now seen the laboratory which is under construction. They have gone very far, and the standard of the construction is good.

‘’We have also seen the equipment awaiting to be installed in the laboratories. I have to say kudos to the DG and her team for getting good value for money as far as COVID-19 funds for NAFDAC is concerned.

“Other agencies should come to NAFDAC and learn how they have leveraged ICT to move their organisation forward so that everywhere our standard can be uplifted with everyone seeing it,” Mshelia said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng

By Reporters

Bauchi:  Pharmarcists and other stakeholders in the North-East have called for more awareness campaign to combat circulation of counterfeit and falsified pharmaceuticals in the country.

The experts said the call was imperative to educate the people on the dangers of fake drugs and safeguard public health.

They spoke while responding to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on circulation of fake drugs and chemicals in Bauchi, Damaturu, Dutse, Gombe, Maiduguri and Yola.

A pharmacist in Yobe, Mr Madu Ali said effective strategies were necessary to strengthen drug regulatory agencies to enable them to combat circulation of falsified drugs in the country.

He defined fake drug as any drug that do not contain active ingredients, but packaged to look like a genuine product.

The expert listed the effects of fake drugs to include disease progression, organ failure and prolong duration of treatment.

Ali, also the Head, Pharmaceutical Services, Specialists’ Hospital, Damaturu, said strengthening the agencies would enhance their operations to ensure that only genuine drugs were in circulation in the country.

“If you strengthen the drugs management agencies, you will improve their capabilities from mere physical inspection of drug colours to full-fledged laboratory investigation,” he said.

He said there was an urgent need to ban drug hawking and caution members of the public against patronising open drug markets.

Ali noted that although many suspected fake drugs were in circulation, the anomaly could only be confirmed by a formal research.

Recounting her ordeal; Mrs Josephine Audu, a victim of fake drugs in Gombe State, urged NAFDAC to intensify campaign to check circulation of counterfeit drugs and chemicals in the country.

Audu noted that fake drugs caused adverse side effects rather than providing remedy to diseases.
“I took a brand of Septrin tablet and developed skin rashes afterwards.
“I alongside six other females became ill and hospitalised after using the drug,” and urged relevant authorities to step up campaign to curb the menace.

To buttress the claim, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Borno has raised alarm over circulation of fake agricultural chemicals in the state.
NAFDAC’s State Coordinator, Jamil Audu said the Agency seized counterfeit agro chemicals in series of raids at markets in Maiduguri metropolis.
He said unsuspecting farmers used the chemicals for crop production and preservation in spite of associated health risks and environmental hazards.
“The discoveries are alarming as some people engaged in bad practices.
“The Agency is conducting awareness campaign as one of the veritable regulatory mechanisms to safeguard public health.
“We are sensitising marketers, herbal medicine practitioners, water and food processors to effectively regulate their activities,” he said.
He said the Agency had scaled up sensitisation activities through Consumer Safety Clubs in schools to educate them on how to detect unregistered products.

The campaign, he said, was part of strategies adopted by the Agency to protect the people against unwholesome food, falsified drugs and harmful cosmetics.
According to him, the siezed items will be destroy after laboratory analysis.
In the same vein; Mathias Buba, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) activist, attributed high cases of treatment failure to consumption of fake drugs.
He said falsified drugs are deadly resulting to organs damage and worsen chronic diseases such as renal failure and liver cirrhosis.
Buba, therefore, advocated practical measures to regulate drugs import, and urged indigenous pharmaceuticals to adopt measures to make their products accessible.
In Adamawa; the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), said it had seized and destroyed counterfeit drugs worth over N110 million.

Chaurman of the association in the state, Mr Ibrahim Talba said the exercise was part of comprehensive campaign to combat fake drugs.
“We usually conduct routine inspection to remove and destroy expired drugs.
“Most of the drugs expired or not certified by NAFDAC,” he said.
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However, Dr Kabir Ibrahim, Executive Secretary, Jigawa Primary Healthcare Development Agency (JSPHCDA), maintained that 100 per cent of drugs had been certified in public health facilities across the state.
“In Jigawa, 100 per cent of drugs in public health facilities are genuine.
“We have made it a policy that all public health facilities must procure drugs from the Jigawa Medical Supply Organisation (JIMSO),” Ibrahim said.
He said JIMSO procured drugs directly from manufacturers and supplied to healthcare facilities in the state.
The Agency, he said, subjected drug manufacturers to screening, including inspection of manufacturing plants, medicine manufacturing protocols and compliance with medical formulae.
According to him, the agency also engages manufacturing companies in quality improvement, talks and discussions and on-the-job supervision to ensure supply of genuine drugs. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)/Flowerbudnews