NAFDAC’s Director General, Prof. Christianah Adeyeye, stated on Tuesday that during her first term in office, the agency’s internally generated revenue (IGR) increased by three times, from N700 million to N2.5 billion.
Adeyeye, who was recently reappointed for a second five-year term, also announced that NAFDAC would advance to the World Health Organization’s Maturity Level 4 as a regulatory organisation to facilitate the international trade of pharmaceuticals made in Nigeria by working in tandem with other regulatory organisations to register these products.
During a video press conference to announce her second term in office, Adeyeye thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and other industry players for their support of the agency during her first term, which helped it accomplish the success it did.
Adeyeye was delighted to report that IGR for NAFDAC has increased threefold to N2.5 billion from N700 million, and user fees have more than doubled to N15 billion since she was initially appointed, according to her memories.
She recalled that during her first term, she inherited an N3.02 billion debt, which she paid off within her first year in office.
“N3.02 billion inherited debt was paid off within my first year in office. The sum of about N180 million was discovered to be fictitious. The agency is enjoying better financial management. The IGR has tripled to N2.5 billion. User fees have more than doubled to N15 billion.”
She recalled some of her accomplishments, such as achieving WHO Maturity Level 3 in the WHO Global Benchmarking Tools, saying that this put NAFDAC among the globally recognized regulatory agencies.
She claims that NAFDAC obtained the designation exactly in March 2022, during the first quarter of the previous year.
About her strategic goals for 2023–2028, she stated that she would concentrate on governance, financial management, and publicity, adding that we would continue to “sustain strong governance – expansion of directorates for greater and impactful management and obtain approval of hazard and regulatory allowance (To be funded from NAFDAC Generated User Fees).”
“We have maturity level 3 now and that has allowed us to be allowed to manufacture vaccines now, but we are going to maturity level 4, MLA 4, and what is called World Listed Authority (WLA) Status. She further added that the attainment will enable:
Pharmaceuticals developed in Nigeria are traded internationally through cooperative registration with other regulatory bodies; manufacturers will register with NAFDAC using their global standards, it is added.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Adeyeye said: “Local Pharmaceutical manufacturers will become more competitive in AFCTA as without having quality, your product is not going to sell.”
“Attaining Vaccine Lot Release ML4 to position Nigeria strategically for vaccine manufacturing
We are benchmarked on seven because we were not manufacturing then. It will ensure Good Manufacturing Practices of Nigeria Vaccine Company and assures quality, safety, and efficacy of vaccines manufactured in Nigeria or imported.
She said NAFDAC will be establishing Vaccine Clinical Trial Research and Service Pipeline for the local manufacturer.
“We are going to create an office of women’s health to understudy drugs, cosmetics, and food products that affect childbearing women, the unborn, and the child. It will also emphasize the misuse or abuse of drugs among women and its impact on the child. More focus on maternal and child mortality and morbidity rate.
“On newer initiatives, she said the agency will focus on supply chain monitoring, continual sanitization of the Supply Chain Units to mitigate counterfeits and SFs, and scale up Track and Trace of Imported and locally manufactured pharmaceuticals among others.
She went on to say that the agency will also engage in more proactive interaction with various MSMEs at the state level, lamenting the fact that 95% of products that were rejected outside of Nigeria did not go through NAFDAC.
