Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has issued a warning to all unscrupulous persons or manufacturers, operating under the guise of convergence and cooperation, to engage in clandestine practices that violate extant regulations, that they would not be treated with kid gloves.
Adeyeye made the call at the India-Nigeria Pharmaceutical and Health Industry Forum, organised in Lagos, at the weekend, with the aim of providing concrete steps towards birthing, actualising, and strengthening mutual benefits for pharmaceutical business in both countries.
As a ML3 agency, she said “NAFDAC is strongly averse to unethical practices and would not fail to protect public health through enforcement of appropriate sanctions when and where the need arises.”
She also noted that the agency has called for collaboration between Nigerian and Indian pharmaceutical sectors to make medicines that are secure, effective, inexpensive, and of good quality available.
She pointed out that the forecast for the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria and India, the population changes, and related health measurements give a shared starting point for a powerful collaboration between the two countries.
Adeyeye declared without a doubt that the signs mentioned are grounds for why the regulatory environment between the two countries must be explored for the benefit of the people.
“There is a strong correlation in economic indices in both countries, which places them on the list of World Bank’s emerging markets, thus creating objective evidence and the need for mutuality and strong bilateral cooperation.
“It is impossible for any nation, no matter how wealthy, to meet all its required medications, but that Universal Health Coverage, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, must still be accomplished.
“One mechanism for meeting essential drug need is a proposition for mutually beneficial cooperation among regulatory agencies,” Adeyeye noted in a statement signed by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, in Lagos, on Monday.
According to her, Nigeria was a huge beneficiary of this during the last global pandemic, when a substantial quantity of COVID-19 vaccines was obtained from Serum Institute India. She said this was made possible through active intervening role of the India National Regulatory Authority NRA (The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
As a responsible national regulatory agency, Adeyeye said NAFDAC would continue to forge meaningful alliance within the confines of its mandate, relevant legislations, and in line with global best practices.
