NAFDAC Chief: Nigeria’s Pharmaceutical Industry Must Be More Self-Sufficient
The director-general of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Dr. Paul Orhii recently urged his countrymen to become more self-sufficient in terms of its pharmaceutical production.
Orhii said he believes that the dependence on foreign drug producers is a threat to national security and may lead to the amount of counterfeit drug in the country, according to the Daily Sun.
“The Federal Ministry of Health had set up a committee to strengthen local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products to enable Nigeria to be self sufficient in the production of drugs needed in the country.”
Orhii also said that NAFDAC had completed its area laboratory in Agulu in the Anambra State. In a recent analysis of medications in the nearby Onitsha Market, it was found that less than 5 percent of them were counterfeit drugs, according to Orhii, who was satisfied with these findings.
Orhii made these comments following his remarks on an attack of NAFDAC officials by youths that occurred after a raid on counterfeit drug dealers in the Ebonyi State.