Abbreviation | NAFDAC |
---|---|
Formation | 1993 |
Headquarters | Abuja, FCT, Nigeria |
Coordinates | 9°03′19″N7°27′23″E / 9.055206°N 7.456496°E |
Official language | English |
Director General | Mojisola Adeyeye |
Website | http://www.nafdac.gov.ng/ |
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is a Nigerian federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale, and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and packaged water. [1] [2]
The agency is headed by Dr. Monica Eimunjeze in an acting capacity on 12 November 2022, according to an internal memo dated 17 November 2022, signed by Oboli A.U. and copied to all directors at the agency, following the expiration of Prof Mojisola Adeyeye's tenure. [3] She was appointed on 12 November 2022 by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the acting Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). [4]
The organisation was established to counter illicit and counterfeit products in Nigeria in 1993 under the country's health and safety law. Adulterated and counterfeit drugs are a problem in Nigeria. In one 1989 incident, over 150 children died as a result of paracetamol syrup containing diethylene glycol. The problem of fake drugs was so severe that neighbouring countries such as Ghana and Sierra Leone officially banned the sale of drugs, foods, and beverages products made in Nigeria.[ citation needed ]
Such problems led to the establishment of NAFDAC, with the goal of eliminating counterfeit pharmaceuticals, foods, and beverages products that are not manufactured in Nigeria and ensuring that available medications are safe and effective.
The formation of NAFDAC was inspired by a 1988 World Health Assembly resolution requesting countries' help in combating the global health threat posed by counterfeit pharmaceuticals. [5]
In December 1992, NAFDAC's first governing council was formed. The council was chaired by Tanimu Saulawa. In January 1993, supporting legislation was approved as Legislative Decree No. 15 of 1993. On 1 January 1994, NAFDAC was officially established as a “parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health”. [6]
NAFDAC replaced an earlier Federal Ministry of Health body, the Directorate of Food and Drug Administration and Control, which had been deemed ineffective, partially because of a lack of laws concerning fake drugs.
Chairman and council
“(NAFDAC) is headed by a chairman who presides over a governing council appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Minister of Health.”Other council members are: [7]
Three people from the general public are also represented on the council. [8]
Several units make up NAFDAC which include:
NAFDAC has various basic functions. [9] According to the requirements of its enabling decree, the agency was authorised to:
NAFDAC envisions that by making these functions known, its actions will be apparent “in all sectors that deal with food, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water, and chemicals to the extent of instilling the extra need for caution and compulsion to respect and obey existing regulations both for healthy living and knowledge of certain sanctions or default. Despite the establishment of NAFDAC, the sale and use of fake drugs did not end.
Dissatisfied with progress in combating fake drugs, President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration dissolved the management of NAFDAC in August 2000. In April 2001, a new management, with Dora Akunyili as director-general, was inaugurated. [10] The team reorganised the agency, which has been successful in the recent past due to three new federal policies:
The activities of NAFDAC have been the subject of considerable scrutiny in recent years. The agency has drawn fire for being susceptible to overt government interference, subject to bribery, internal feuding, and constant rumours and or allegations abound concerning the misappropriation of funds. In one high-profile (and typical) case, the former NAFDAC director of finance and accounts, Andrew Ademola Mogbojuri, alleged mass fraud in 2015 against the agency's director-general, Paul Orhii. [12] The agency claimed sour grapes were behind the allegation and labelled Mogbojuri's claim "misleading and cheap blackmail".
Orhii was also the subject of a sweeping fraud allegation by NAFDAC whistleblowers earlier in 2015. A petition was sent to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging frivolous contract awards and supplies, manipulated publicity efforts, donations, and international air travel racketeering. [13]
Some of the world's largest brewers have been caught up in NAFDAC scandals as well. From a 2013 report alleging bribery conducted by Guinness and Heineken:
Two multinational beer companies (Guinness and Heineken) have decided to do it the illegal way, which insiders alleged is to bribe officials of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC) to deny the manufacturers of local herbal gin accreditation, knowing that Nigerians who had been patronizing them will desist once they are not accredited by the agency. The bribes amount to millions of Naira. [14] Guinness was back in the NAFDAC glare in 2016. Having been fined about ₦1 billion in November 2015 [15] for allegedly re-validating and using expired raw materials without prior approval, the multinational brewer responded with a lawsuit, which was quietly dropped in March 2016. [16]
NAFDAC ensures it maintains very close contact with a number of national and international organisations whose activities relate to the functions of NAFDAC. Such organisations include the following. [17]
In order to keep in touch with the international scene for information, training, cooperation assistance, aid, and financing of specific projects, especially in these days of global and national austerity, the agency maintains close relationships with a number of international agencies, some of which include:
The United States Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, caffeine products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed and veterinary products.
Health Canada is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for national health policy. The department itself is also responsible for numerous federal health-related agencies, including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), among others. These organizations help to ensure compliance with federal law in a variety of healthcare, agricultural, and pharmaceutical activities. This responsibility also involves extensive collaboration with various other federal- and provincial-level organizations in order to ensure the safety of food, health, and pharmaceutical products—including the regulation of health research and pharmaceutical manufacturing/testing facilities.
Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, dietary supplements, and medical devices. These guidelines provide minimum requirements that a manufacturer must meet to assure that their products are consistently high in quality, from batch to batch, for their intended use.
The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is a set of laws passed by the United States Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics. The FDA's principal representative with members of congress during its drafting was Charles W. Crawford. A principal author of this law was Royal S. Copeland, a three-term U.S. senator from New York. In 1968, the Electronic Product Radiation Control provisions were added to the FD&C. Also in that year the FDA formed the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) to incorporate into FD&C regulations the recommendations from a National Academy of Sciences investigation of effectiveness of previously marketed drugs. The act has been amended many times, most recently to add requirements about bioterrorism preparations.
Diethylene glycol (DEG) is an organic compound with the formula (HOCH2CH2)2O. It is a colorless, practically odorless, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste. It is a four carbon dimer of ethylene glycol. It is miscible in water, alcohol, ether, acetone, and ethylene glycol. DEG is a widely used solvent. It can be a normal ingredient in various consumer products, and it can be a contaminant. DEG has also been misused to sweeten wine and beer, and to viscosify oral and topical pharmaceutical products. Its use has resulted in many epidemics of poisoning since the early 20th century.
The National Medical Products Administration is a national bureau responsible for drug supervision under the State Council of China and is managed by the State Administration for Market Regulation.
An online pharmacy, internet pharmacy, or mail-order pharmacy is a pharmacy that operates over the Internet and sends orders to customers through mail, shipping companies, or online pharmacy web portal.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Health of the Government of Singapore. It is a multi-disciplinary agency responsible for applying medical, pharmaceutical, and scientific expertise to protect and advance public health and safety.
Dora Nkem Akunyili was the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria from 2001 to 2008.
mPedigree refers both to a mobile telephony shortcode platform that interconnects GSM mobile networks in a number of African and Asian countries to a central registry wherein pedigree information of product brands belonging to participant manufacturers are stored, as well as the organisation that was founded in 2007 to manage and promote this registry to organisations and governments in Africa and other parts of the world. The latter is named the mPedigree Network. In December 2015, the mPedigree Network rebranded to 'mPedigree', and begun to trade under that name and a new logo, based on a knight-of-chess motif.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to clinical research:
A counterfeit medication or a counterfeit drug is a medication or pharmaceutical item which is produced and sold with the intent to deceptively represent its origin, authenticity, or effectiveness. A counterfeit drug may contain inappropriate quantities of active ingredients, or none, may be improperly processed within the body, may contain ingredients that are not on the label, or may be supplied with inaccurate or fake packaging and labeling.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is one of the Federal Ministries of Nigeria concerned with the formulation and implementation of policies related to health. It is headed by two ministers appointed by the president, assisted by a permanent secretary, who is a career civil servant. The current Minister of Health is Muhammad Ali Pate, the Minister of State for Health is Iziaq Adekunle Salako and the Permanent Secretary is Daju Kachollom.
The Food and Drugs Authority is a Ghanaian government agency responsible for the inspection, certification, and proper distribution of foods and food products as well as drugs in Ghana.The FDA exists to ensure the safety, quality and efficacy of human and veterinary drugs, food, biological products, cosmetics, medical devices, household.The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in Ghana also plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and quality of food, drugs, and other related products.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) is India's national regulatory body for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. It serves a similar function to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States or the European Medicines Agency of the European Union. The Indian government has announced its plan to bring all medical devices, including implants and contraceptives under a review of the Central Drugs and Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
EMDEX is the most commonly used reference source of drug and therapeutic information by healthcare professionals in Nigeria. It was first published in 1991 as Nigeria's Essential Drugs (NED) Guide.
EMDEX drug information contents, arrangements, and therapeutic recommendations are supported by several references and clinical guidelines notably WHO Model Formulary, WHO ATC Classification System, Nigeria's Essential Medicines List, and Standard Treatment Guidelines, etc. The information is regularly reviewed and updated by a select team of healthcare practitioners and academics.
The central objective of EMDEX has been to promote the rational use of medicines through the provision of independent drug information, and the use of clinical guidelines and essential medicines list. It is the largest and most up-to-date source of information on drug products approved for use in Nigeria by NAFDAC .
The use of EMDEX as a reference drug manual is endorsed by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the Nursing & Midwifery Council of Nigeria, and major health institutions. It is used both within and outside Nigeria by physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and auxiliary health workers at all levels of healthcare delivery. These healthcare providers rely on EMDEX for accuracy and completeness of drug information namely indications, contra-indications, precautions or warnings, adverse effects, dosages, and drug use in special populations like children, elderly, pregnancy & lactation.
EMDEX publications are also in the syllabus of various colleges & schools of medicine, pharmacy & nursing.
Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye is a Nigerian pharmacist and professor. She was appointed the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on 3 November 2017 by the President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. Before her appointment as NAFDAC boss, she was the founding Chair of Biopharmaceutical Sciences and a Professor of Pharmaceutics, Manufacturing Science and Drug Product Evaluation at the College of Pharmacy, Roosevelt University in Schaumburg, Illinois, where she spent 7 years. She was also a Professor of Pharmaceutics and Manufacturing for 21 years at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She is Senior Fulbright Scholar and Specialist and 2008 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Fellow. She is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science and Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy. Her research interests are in the areas of pre-formulation, early phase development of solid, semisolid and liquid dosage forms, and IND-based and intellectual property-driven late phase drug product development. She is the founder and President of Elim Pediatric Pharmaceuticals Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Through Duquesne University, she was able to develop an anti-retroviral (HIV/AIDS) pediatric fixed-dose combination and received intellectual property on the formulations in the UK and South Africa.
The International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) is a global conference of government health bureaucrats.
The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) is a Nigerian institution charged with developing drugs, biological products, and pharmaceutical raw materials, conducting quality-assurance tests, research for locally manufactured medicines and constituting guidelines for their production. Founded in 1987, it was a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. In 2001, it was moved to Federal Ministry of Health.