We’re Poised To Use Technology To Fight Substandard, Falsified Products –NAFDAC

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has said it is poised to use technology and modern means to mitigate the activities of counterfeiters, who engage in the production of substandard and falsified products.

NAFDAC director-general, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt while speaking at the opening of a two-day sensitisation and awareness workshop on Greenbook, Traceability Project and Pediatric Policy for stakeholders in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country.

Adeyeye, who was represented by the director, Post-Marketing Surveillance, Pharmacist Fraden Bitrus, said over the years, the agency has deployed several measures, including the use of traditional and social media, to combat substandard and falsified products in the country.

She said, “Over the years, Nigeria, like other low and medium-income countries (LMIC), has grappled with a man-made evil called substandard and falsified (SF) products, commonly known as counterfeit and fake medical products.

“Please note that these products are produced by our greedy businessmen and their international collaborators to get rich or make money. This is the worst inhumanity of man to fellow men. NAFDAC, over the years, has deployed various measures to combat SF products.

“Therefore, the Agency is poised to use technologies and modern means to mitigate the activities of counterfeiters, and therefore, the need for sensitization of stakeholders is apt. This workshop aims to provide information, sensitize stakeholders, and provide hands-on training on three things.

“The NAFDAC Greenbook, The Traceability Regulation 2024 and The Pediatric Regulation 2024; these ensure that the regulator and the regulated are on the same page in combating SF medical products.”

In her goodwill message, the Rivers State Commissioner of Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh, lauded the NAFDAC director-general and the agency for their dogged fight against those behind substandard and falsified products in the country.

Oreh, who Pharmacist Constance Dappa represented, said, “We are very excited at what the director-general and her team are doing in riding out these unscrupulous persons from our society.”