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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has vowed that vaccines produced in Nigeria including the ones for COVID-19 will be of internationally standard.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, on Sunday.
Adeyeye, during an oversight visit by the House of Representatives committee on COVID-19 to NAFDAC facilities and COVID-19 laboratory projects in Lagos, said regulatory sgency must be strengthened to have a good health sector.
She described Federal Government’s huge spending on the fight against COVID-19 as exemplified by the construction of the new COVID-19 laboratory, equipped with modern instruments and amenities at the agency as a wake-up call for the country.
The Director General noted with dismay that the health sector had hitherto been neglected before the present administration responded through the COVID-19 committee of the national assembly, ‘’particularly the members that are here today.”
‘’If the regulatory agency is not strengthened, the industry will not be strengthened. We have the African free trade agreement already here with us now for the nation’s pharmaceutical industry to take advantage of with quality products.
“There will be a lot of competition and if NAFDAC’s laboratory is not strengthened, we will not be able to compete.
‘’For Vaccine, we are hoping that the vaccine facilities from the public- private partnership will soon happen but if the regulatory agency is not strong, we can make vaccine that will destroy our own people.
“Nigeria can now make her own vaccines and we can assure the populace that there is quality in whatever is being manufactured because of NAFDAC’s strength,” she said.
Adeyeye commended the house committee on COVID-19 and the Healthcare Services Committee of the 9th assembly for ensuring that NAFDAC as a regulatory agency is being known internationally.
The chairman, house committee on COVID-19, Honourable Haruna Mshelia, lauded the NAFDAC boss and her management team for leveraging on latest technology to upgrade the agency to a standard that is next to none in Africa.
‘’We have seen with our eyes how they have leveraged on latest technology to upgrade the organisation to a standard that is next to none in Africa. I think they need to be commended. We have seen the warehouse. We have now seen the laboratory which is under construction. They have gone very far, and the standard of the construction is good.
“We have also seen the equipment awaiting to be installed in the laboratories. I have to say kudos to the DG and her team for getting good value for money as far as COVID-19 funds for NAFDAC is concerned. Other Agencies should come to NAFDAC and learn how they have leveraged on ICT to move their organisation forward so that everywhere our standard can be uplifted with everyone seeing it,” he said.