National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that all vaccines produced in Nigeria, including those for COVID-19, will meet international standards.
The director-general of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this in a statement, described the 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.
She noted with dismay that the health sector had hitherto been neglected before the present administration responded through the COVID-19 committees of the national assembly.
The NAFDAC boss stated that the agency must be strengthened for the country to be able to compete internationally.
“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.
“We are hoping that the vaccine facilities from the public-private partnership will soon happen’’, said Adeyeye.
With NAFDAC now very strong with WHO Maturity Level 3 certification, Adeyeye enthused that ‘’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.’’
On the impact that COVID-19 fund has made, she said this should resonate well with the whole country that if you put the right people in the right places, then the vision of the government can be realised.
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