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NAFDAC will provide enabling environment to encourage local manufacturers – DG

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NAFDAC will provide enabling environment to encourage local manufacturers - DG

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it will provide enabling environment for the local manufacturing companies to operate in order to reduce drug insecurity.

Prof. Moji Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, spoke at the 25th anniversary celebration of the agency on Thursday in Lagos.

Adeyeye said that encouragement of the manufacturing companies, especially pharmaceutical companies, would help to reduce drug insecurity.

“We are encouraging our local manufacturing; we just finished inspecting all pharmaceutical companies by evaluating them to make sure the enabling environment is provided for pharmaceutical business.

“We are sourcing for different technological tools that we can use or scanners to detect all these products that are affecting our population.

“Substandard fortified medicines will always be here; however, the 17 per cent we have now, we need to minimise it as much as possible.

“Our major focus is to make sure that we have a maturity level that is enviable in Africa as a regulatory agency.

“The maturity level comes to how we regard our customers and how we get the products to the market, because it is not an abstract.

“We are customers’ focus minded agency, we have to make sure that the products we are using in Nigeria are safe,” Adeyeye said.

She said the celebration of NAFDAC was an anxiety, adding that the agency was celebrating the good and the bad together.

“We are learning from the bad and making sure the future is bright, and that is what we are doing in NAFDAC now.

“NAFDAC has come a long way; we are debt-free, we now process our application on time; also, our laboratories are getting better everyday.

“We are trying to make sure that our images are protected and force inspection is working round the clock,’’ she said.

According to her, doing micro small and medium size enterprises is much better, people can do their e-registration for the enabling environment that the presidency provided.

“The provision has allowed for micro small medium size enterprises to thrive, and it has trickled down to us by getting the products into the market.

“Our regulatory approval processing is on time now; for food, is 90 days maximum, while for drugs, it is about 120 days,” Adeyeye said.

She said the agency was making working conditions much better for the workers by working on their salary structure because it entails a strong workforce.

“Once you have a strong workforce it will brings productivity, where we are now is 10 times better than were we are few years ago.

“NAFDAC again is not a loan organisation; we are judged by what we do on a daily basis like the World Health Organisation (WHO), now we are moving from one level to the other.

“We will make sure we get to the next level, which is level three, but level four is the best, which will make us to be one of the best.

“All our staff are working round the clock; we have a much better attitude to work now because of quality management system; but above all, if they are not happy, I am not happy,” Adeyeye said.

Earlier, the Chairman, NAFDAC Governing Council, Inuwa Abdulkadir, appealed to other government agencies to support the agency to enhance its operations for quality service delivery.

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