- By Femi Alabi
In its resolve to ensure that fake and substandard medicines do not thrive in the country, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has engaged stakeholders in the pharmaceutical products supply chain.
NAFDAC said there is no Increase of Fake Drugs in the country, warning that it would not hesitate to clamp down on wholesale and retail outlets where fake drugs are dispensed for public use.
The Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, who spoke at a stakeholders meeting weekend also emphasised the need to explore how to combat the sale and distribution of Substandard and Falsified Medical Products within the supply chain.
She said: “We do national survey, sampling of products using scientific methods from different parts of the country., she said, adding that the survey was done in 2021 and 2022 for ant-malaria with a 10 per cent prevalence level.
“If you live very close to the border where people come in and out the prevalence may be higher there. That’s statistics. The average is about 10 percent.
Adeyeye insisted that proliferation is not synonymous with shortage because the two words are now used together. “The fact that we have a shortage of medicines does not mean there is a proliferation of substandard falsified medicines. The survey for 2023 is not ready yet. We will publish 2021 and 2022 survey,”
She stated that the engagement with Pharma supply chain stakeholders in Nigeria serves as a means of thinking together and putting in place a position that will represent or guide collective efforts and strategy to prevent, detect, and respond to substandard and falsified medicinal products, adding that the goal is to ensure that medical products in circulation are of the quality standard required and safe for public use.
She added that the high prevalence of SF in Africa is a major threat to public health, attributing this to the fact that regulation in the region is limited with about 10% of African National Regulatory Agencies NRAs having achieved ML3.
Adeyeye noted with dismay that this allows for poorly regulated manufacturers to supply their products in Africa where technologies to detect SF and track/trace are limited.
She added that the menace of substandard and falsified medical products threatens access to safe, efficacious, and affordable medicines, undermining health systems and the achievement of Universal Health Coverage globally.
Adeyeye explained that currently, NAFDAC is doing its best to fight this issue of Substandard and Falsified products, the fight against Substandard/Falsified medical products is based on three broad thematic areas Prevent, Detect, and Respond (PDR).
“NAFDAC operatives are not just going on the streets to look for substandard falsified medicines, but also going after products that have been approved in Southeast Asia en route Nigeria.
“70 per cent of medicines used in Nigeria come from outside which necessitated the establishment of a Pre-shipment testing scheme that has stopped over 124 products that were approved from coming into the Nigerian market.
“some of the SF medicines do not have content, some will not disintegrate, and some will not dissolve.
“In contrast, some of them have wrong labelling and all sorts of non-compliance, adding that the Agency is dealing with that now with the World Health Organization (WHO). “
She held that the Pharmaceutical Supply chain plays a vital role in ensuring that safe, quality, and efficacious medicines reach the end users, adding that there is therefore a need to foster complementary partnerships that will seek to identify lapses in the supply chain system to improve the chances of winning the war on substandard and falsified medical products in Nigeria.
“We have formal and informal markets. Do not buy medicines from the informal market. We do a lot of raids in Oke- Arin, Idumota markets Lagos, Onitsha head bridge where you can buy a product maybe 50 per cent or 80 per cent cheaper because of low quality.”
She however advised that the state of the economy shouldn’t be an excuse for people to buy poison under the guise of cheap products.
“I enjoin you to sustain your support to NAFDAC to ensure that only safe, efficacious, and quality medicines are used in Nigeria. NAFDAC, as the regulatory agency is seeking the support of all stakeholders in the pharma industry and supply chain system to improve our chances of winning the war on SF medical products.”
The stakeholders present at the supply chain engagements include the World Health Organization (WHO), United States Pharmacopeia (USP), Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria ( PMG-MAN), Association of Community Pharmacist of Nigeria (ACPN), Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association of Nigeria (PWDAN), Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NIROPHARM), Association of Pharmaceutical Importers of Nigeria (APIN), Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacist of Nigeria (AHAPN), Nigeria Army Medical corps, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), National of Veterinary Medical Association(NVMA). Others are different companies represented under PMG-MAN, APIN, PWDAN, and Niropharm.