The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has struck 101 medicines and health products off its register, halting their sale and use nationwide.
In a statement on Tuesday, the agency said the action takes “immediate effect,” stressing that the affected products can no longer be manufactured, imported, advertised, or distributed in Nigeria.
NAFDAC explained that the delisting arose from licensing breaches, regulatory non-compliance, and, in some cases, voluntary withdrawal by market authorisation holders.
When New Daily Prime checked the list, it observed that widely used drugs such as Artemether/Lumefantrine, Abacavir among others were enlisted for suspension.
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The full list, now available on the agency’s website, includes common drugs such as valsartan formulations for hypertension, antimalarial, and diabetes therapies like Januvia and Janumet.
Insulin and hormone-based injectables, alongside inhalers and eye drops, also feature prominently.
The shared statement read partly, “This is to inform the General Public that the following products are approved for withdrawal, suspension and cancellation by NAFDAC. They are therefore no longer permitted for manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use within Nigeria.”
“The Certificate of Registration of a product is said to be withdrawn when the use of the Certificate of Registration of that product is discontinued upon request of the Market Authorisation Holder.”
“The Certificate of Registration of a product may be suspended when the conditions upon which the NAFDAC Registration license was issued are no longer met, and the Agency is to make a determination.”
The crackdown follows rising global alarm about counterfeit and substandard medicines, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that one in ten medicines in developing countries fail quality standards.
NAFDAC urged healthcare providers and distributors to review the updated list and ensure strict compliance to protect public health.
