National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Friday announced that Nigeria would soon start manufacturing its own vaccines, with the upgrading of existing laboratories across the country.
Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye disclosed that achieving ISO 9001 in June 2019, which is the world’s most recognised Quality Management System (QMS) standard, kept Nigeria in good standing to strive to get to the maturity level three which enables manufacturing of its own vaccines.
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Adeyeye noted that the agency is leveraging technology to trace vaccines, especially when the COVID-19 vaccines arrive the country.
She explained that this will enable it track and trace vaccines received to ensure that they are safe and monitored for adverse reactions on patients.
Speaking during the NAFDAC’s Staff Recognition Award Ceremony for 2019 and 2020, where serving and retired staff were rewarded for excellence and dedication, Prof. Adeyeye stated;
With regards to the establishment of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) global benchmarking and adoption of international best practices, we want to get to the maturity level three so that Nigeria can manufacture her own vaccines and we are all working on this every day.
We are upgrading the agency’s laboratories to international standards using equipment that are compliant to ISO 17025. NAFDAC laboratories are changing very rapidly with improvements in new equipment and supplies.
The Director-General stressed;
Our four laboratories that were accredited before I came have received re-accreditation. We have also gotten a new lab – the Yaba Biologies and Vaccines Lab accredited for the first time. And our two other labs will be accredited very soon.
She added;
In similar efforts to enhance the local production of pharmaceuticals in Nigeria, the agency has renewed and updated its 5 + 5 validity policy because we want local content. We want more local manufacturing – to reverse it from 70 percent imports to 70 percent locally manufactured products.
We are building traceability because our supply chain is chaotic to say the least. Now we have adopted traceability of track and trace that will make sure that the products that leave the manufacturers site is what the patient is taking. This is a technologically-driven initiative and NAFDAC is the second country in Africa to adopt this. We are using this for covid-19 vaccines when they come.
