The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) has sought Nigerians support in delivering safe and quality medicines.
Director-general of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye made the appeal while briefing journalists Monday in Abuja, on the coming third African Medicine Quality Forum (AMQF) in FCT.
She said NAFDAC volunteered last year at the last meeting in Morocco to host the AMQF.
The goal is to build and strengthen the capacity of African countries in medicines quality control and regional post marketing surveillance which in turn will contribute significantly to reducing substandard and falsified medical products in circulation in the African markets.
AMQF was expected to drive quality control standard practices and ultimately the mutual recognition of QC tests among African countries.
She noted that “it is a platform for a holistic continental quality control agenda that facilitates sharing of best practices, an advocacy platform to raise the national and international visibility of National Quality Control Laboratories (NQCL).
AMQF was established in 2017 as a Technical Working Group of African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (AMRH) that is jointly domiciled at AUDA-NEPAD and WHO, Geneva as joint secretariats.
The meeting sponsored by World Bank, NAFDAC, West African Health Organization (WAHO), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), AU-NEPAD, United States Pharmacopeia (USP), World Health Organization (WHO) and manufacturers will hold in Abuja on February 24-28 2020 at Transcorp Hilton.
The theme for this year’s meeting is “2020: Perfect Vision for Quality of Medicines in Africa.”
She added that “NAFDAC advocates daily for quality of medicines in the nation’s supply chain through strengthening of our internal capacities such as having quality laboratories with modern equipment with trained personnel, strong post marketing surveillance, inspection of manufacturing facilities and enforcement using international best practice.
I believe that at the end of the meeting, the heads of quality control laboratories from over 35 African countries would have achieved a clearer picture of the importance of the NQCLs and their convergence for collaborative reliance at the regional and continental levels.
This realisation will ensure that substandard, falsified and counterfeit drugs products will be reduced to a minimum,” she said.
