BEVERLY HILLS, December 29, (THEWILL) – The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has shut the facilities of six manufacturers of finished pharmaceutical products in Nigeria.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement disclosed that the action was the outcome of nationwide surveillance on the activities of the manufacturers aimed at forestalling the circulation of substandard and falsified drugs in the country.
The statement read, “These local manufacturers, despite appropriate notification, failed to meet minimum Good Manufacturing Practice standards in line with extant requirements which are required to assure the quality, safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products.
“The current actions are to serve as deterrents to all local and foreign manufacturers who may not want to comply with basic GMP requirements and join the agency in its renewed campaign to rid the country of substandard and falsified medicines.
“NAFDAC owes the nation the onerous responsibility of safeguarding public health and will not backtrack in ensuring that only medicines that are safe, efficacious and of good quality are accessible to the Nigerian.”
The NAFDAC boss reiterated the agency’s decision to keep the erring companies shut until they comply with the set standards.
It could be recalled that in a bid to address the challenges of substandard and falsified medicines in Nigeria’s healthcare system, NAFDAC recently blacklisted a foreign manufacturer of finished pharmaceutical products and delisted its local representative for gross violation of NAFDAC extant laws and regulations.
About the Author
