To prevent health complications in Nigeria, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (DG-NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has encouraged health stakeholders in the South-South region to support initiatives aimed at curbing counterfeit drugs and products.
In the agency’s two-day sensitisation workshop held in Port Harcourt, the DG of NAFDAC gave this charge to the stakeholders.
The workshop, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focused on the NAFDAC Green Book, traceability of products, and paediatric regulation.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, who was represented by Fraden Bitrus, the Director of Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorate, highlighted the various measures the agency has deployed over the years to fight against fake medical products.
To prevent health complications in Nigeria, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (DG-NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has encouraged health stakeholders in the South-South region to support initiatives aimed at curbing counterfeit drugs and products.
In the agency’s two-day sensitisation workshop held in Port Harcourt, the DG of NAFDAC gave this charge to the stakeholders.
The workshop, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focused on the NAFDAC Green Book, traceability of products, and paediatric regulation.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, who was represented by Fraden Bitrus, the Director of Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorate, highlighted the various measures the agency has deployed over the years to fight against fake medical products.
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These measures include the publication of consumer safety alerts in national newspapers, the “Shine Your Eyes” programme on television, and the adoption of advanced technologies such as Mobile Authentication Service (MAS), Truscan, Minilab, and other surveillance tools.
Adeyeye described Substandard and Falsified (SF) products as a “man-made evil” that has plagued Low- and Medium-Income Countries (LMICs), with counterfeiters employing increasingly sophisticated methods to expand their illicit trade.
She emphasized NAFDAC’s commitment to leveraging technology and modern regulatory mechanisms to curb the menace.
“Therefore, the Agency is poised to use technologies and modern means to mitigate the activities of counterfeiters; therefore, the need for sensitisation of stakeholders is apt,” she stated.
The workshop provided participants with crucial information and hands-on training on the NAFDAC Green Book, the Traceability Regulation 2024, and the Paediatric Regulation 2024.
Adeyeye explained that the Green Book is an online resource designed to help stakeholders verify the authenticity of products by searching for a product’s name, brand, or registration number.
She urged stakeholders to utilize the technology tool at https://bit.ly/4KFZvza to verify product authenticity and prevent substandard products from infiltrating the supply chain.
She further highlighted the importance of the NAFDAC Paediatric Regulation 2024, which addresses the specific needs of children’s healthcare beyond existing regulatory frameworks.
Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, represented by Mrs. Quanta Dapper, Coordinator of Drug and Substance Abuse Control in the state ministry, commended NAFDAC for its proactive approach.
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She assured that Rivers State would collaborate with NAFDAC to eliminate substandard drugs, noting that the state already has a task force in place to combat counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Oreh also pledged that the health sector would continue to clamp down on unpatriotic citizens who are selling death to the people.
Also speaking at the event, NAFDAC’s South-South Zonal Director, Mr. Oligbu Chukwuma, reaffirmed the agency’s dedication to ensuring stakeholders’ compliance.
He noted that state coordinators within the South-South zone act as ambassadors, regularly submitting reports on compliance efforts to the zonal office.
“These are all part of the anti-counterfeit measures that are in place; as you can see, it’s zero tolerance to counterfeit in Nigeria,” Chukwuma added.
