The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Wednesday said that it would soon start manufacturing vaccines in the country thus limiting the country’s dependency on foreign-produced vaccines.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed these at a news conference on Wednesday, in Abuja following the agency’s elevation by the global health body to a Maturity Level 3 status.
With the development, Adeyeye said Nigeria’s made products would be trading globally.
The elevation of NAFDAC, Prof. Adeyeye explained, showed that the agency had raised its standards in not just administration and marketing but also in post-marketing, production registration and many others.
Adeyeye said the development equally indicated that NAFDAC had raised its bar in clinical trials, guidelines and procedures, regulatory inspection, laboratory listings, market control, and other regulators, among others.
She attributed the success of her agency to the dedication and commitment of staff to improving the standard.
Açcording to her, the road to success began a few weeks after she assumed duty in 2018, following her appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari to take over the affairs of the agency as director-general.
She said, “We started this journey in January 2018, five weeks after my resumption as NAFDAC Director-General. It was a torturous, tasking and highly demanding journey, but I went through it with the support of my Directors, governing council and other staff who made different kinds of sacrifices towards the realisation of the goal.”
She explained that, “When we started, WHO listed 868 recommendations which we must meet before we get to maturity level three status. Initially, it sounded impossible, but my Directors stood by me all the way, in addition to many others who did all forms of sacrifices to ensure we achieve the feat.”
She spoke further: “In June 2019, WHO officials visited NAFDAC headquarters in Abuja to commence the benchmarking process. Out of the 868 recommendations they listed, we were able to meet over 600 of them and were left with 147 items which were the most difficult ones at that time.
“We started working at it. We organised town hall meetings and retreats for everyone involved along the chain. We made sure that NAFDAC is on the quality system, and that helped us greatly to achieve the feat. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic came and interrupted our programmes. It took a year out of our scheduled time.
“After the COVID-19 fever, we picked up from where we stopped in 2020. We revisited the 147 recommendations and commenced work on them. In July 2021, WHO met with our officials, virtually, and confirmed that we have reduced the 147 recommendations to 33 which were the most difficult ones including regulations.
“We met all the recommendations in October, 2021. In February 2022, WHO officials returned for final inspection and were glad that all items we submitted and claimed to have were intact.
“That was when they told us that we are successful and had met the criteria for maturity level three regulatory agency status. But they asked us not to announce it until we see the letter conveying the message. The much-awaited letter came around 1 am on Wednesday.”