By George Ozalla
The Director-General of the National A itgency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has presented Nigeria’s regulatory reforms and institutional transformation as a case study in building a credible medicines regulatory system in Africa.
Adeyeye made the presentation while speaking at the Global Health Perspectives series organised by the Takemi Program in International Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she highlighted the progress recorded by NAFDAC since 2017.
She explained that the Agency had advanced from below the World Health Organisation (WHO) Maturity Level 1 to Maturity Level 3, describing the achievement as a significant development in Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen medicines regulation. She identified Maturity Level 4 and WHO-Listed Authority status as the Agency’s next targets.
The NAFDAC boss outlined five major pillars driving the reforms, namely governance and institutional systems, scientific and quality capabilities, safety and quality of medical products, supply chain oversight and digitisation, as well as partnerships with industry and development partners.
She further disclosed that the Agency had recorded several milestones, including ISO 9001 certification, WHO prequalification of its laboratory, expanded laboratory capacity, strengthened enforcement operations and the digitisation of approximately 90 per cent of its regulatory processes.
Adeyeye stressed that financial accountability, evidence-based regulation, effective enforcement and strong institutional leadership were essential to sustaining the gains made in the sector.
She maintained that international collaboration was equally important in the fight against substandard and falsified medical products, particularly as countries seek to improve access to safe and effective medicines.
The NAFDAC Director-General also emphasised the need to strengthen local pharmaceutical manufacturing, noting that increased domestic production must be accompanied by strict adherence to quality and safety standards.
She identified sustained institutional reforms, investment in scientific capacity and regulatory cooperation as important factors in protecting public health and improving access to quality medical products across Africa.
