The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confirmed the discontinuation of sachet alcohol registration since February 2024, a decisive measure aimed at reducing its availability, especially among young people. Speaking during a press briefing in Lagos, the agency’s Director General, Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, provided an overview of NAFDAC’s accomplishments and revealed an ambitious strategic agenda for 2025.
Adeyeye outlined five priority areas: strengthening governance and leadership, enhancing maternal and child health, institutionalizing best regulatory practices, ensuring the safety of regulated products, and improving supply chain monitoring. She identified workforce expansion as the agency’s most pressing need, noting that NAFDAC currently employs only 2,000 staff nationwide instead of the required 10,000.
“To meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards, we are incorporating volunteers while awaiting statutory approval for new hires. All candidates, including volunteers, undergo rigorous screening to ensure competence and integrity,” Adeyeye stated.
Efforts to boost capacity include enhanced staff remuneration, specialized training across Nigeria’s 36 states, and regular collaboration with agencies like Customs, NDLEA, and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria.
NAFDAC plans to complete ten additional zonal offices and laboratories, including a specialized Vaccines, Biologics, and Medical Devices Laboratory in Oshodi. Solar energy solutions will also be deployed to cut operating costs.
In line with its declaration of 2025 as the “Year of Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health & Nutrition,” the agency will prioritize regulating life-saving maternal health products such as oxytocin and carbetocin to reduce maternal mortality. It will also enforce quality standards for pediatric medicines and therapeutic food for malnourished children.
The agency aims to reduce substandard and falsified products to less than five percent by strengthening post-marketing surveillance and conducting more frequent inspections. Transparency and safety will be bolstered through cluster registration of approved products and more effective stakeholder engagement.
NAFDAC’s broadened scope includes herbal medicines and cosmetics. In collaboration with the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency, it is developing a Nigerian Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Clinical trials for herbal treatments targeting malaria, diabetes, and hypertension are underway. Locally produced cosmetics will be compared with imports to inform policies that support domestic manufacturers.
To safeguard critical health products, NAFDAC is expanding its track-and-trace technology beyond COVID-19 vaccines to include maternal health commodities and high-risk foods. This system enhances transparency and prevents the diversion of essential medicines.
### Financial Stability and Local Manufacturing
Under Adeyeye’s leadership, NAFDAC has achieved financial solvency, transitioning from a ₦3.2 billion debt to stability through digitized financial processes. The agency now seeks additional funding to recruit staff, improve infrastructure, and strengthen its operational capacity.
Adeyeye emphasized local manufacturing as vital to pandemic preparedness, noting the agency’s proactive approach to the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China. She stressed the importance of reducing dependence on imports by prioritizing domestic pharmaceutical production.
“Our 2025 plan represents a transformative vision aimed at regulatory excellence, public health protection, and economic growth. Together, we can build a healthier and safer Nigeria,” Adeyeye concluded.
Additionally, she urged timely enforcement of local content laws and called for strengthened border security to combat counterfeit goods, acknowledging that limited manpower at ports remains a significant hurdle.
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