USP gives guidance on how to arrest fake drugs in Nigeria

THE United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has rolled out measures to arrest the circulation of fake drugs in Nigeria.

A team of delegates from the organisation, which visited Nigeria recently to officiate the international accreditation of NAFDAC’s Central Drug Control laboratory in Kaduna, also gave guidance on how to stymie the circulation of poor quality drugs from the Nigerian market.

Speaking exclusively to Tribune Online after a close-door session with the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Lagos on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer of USP, Dr Ronald T. Piervincenzi, said that over four billion people are at risk of death or of developing anti-microbial resistance because of counterfeit drugs ingestion.

He said that the larger percentage of this vulnerable population come from countries with failed regulatory system, revealing that today’s drug regulation would require sophisticated technology and process to monitor the supply and circulation of drugs.

Piervincenzi said the organisation was working with NAFDAC to introduce newer avenues for funding, data-base monitoring system, mobile laboratories as well as academic contents for the study of medicine quality in tertiary institutions.

“NAFDAC is mainly a physical regulator,” he said.

“There is a need to move from physical regulation to real-space monitoring. We are working to create mechanism of evaluating and measuring real-space testing, a statistically relevant method that will enable regulators know whether a supply system is safe through sample testing instead of having to test every medicine in the market.

“The database monitory system will also give regulators the ability to do market surveillance. This is the only way anyone can trust the quality of the medicine supply in their country.

Speaking on the inclusion of medicine quality evaluation in the curricula of undergraduate and graduate programmes, Piervincenzi said, “We are working to develop content for academic institutions on medicine quality. This is something we hope all countries and pharmacy education institutions can include in their curricula”.

Speaking about funding opportunities for Nigeria, the USP Chief Party, Promoting the Quality of Medicine, Dr Chimezie Anyakora, said the organisation will be “talking with Global Funds to make money available for NAFDAC to ensure that the quality of medicine made in Nigeria are high”.

The Acting Director General of NAFDAC, Mrs Yetunde Oni, expressed optimism about the partnership with USP in the direction of drug quality assurance.

Underscoring the importance of research and technology to food and drug safety, Oni made demands to the USP envoy, which included the acquisition of mobile labs, international trainings for staff and building of Centres for Pharmaceutical Advancement and Training in Nigeria (CePAT).