By Chimezie Godfrey
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has volunteered to host the third African Medicine Quality Forum (AMQF) meeting.
In a press briefing on Monday in Abuja, the Director General, Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, disclosed that the agency last year, in Morocco volunteered to host the Third African Medicine Quality Forum (AMQF) meeting.
Adeyeye said the AMQF is expected to drive the harmonization of Quality Control (QC) standards and practices and the mutual recognition of QC tests, among African countries.
“It is a platform for a holistic continental quality control agenda that facilitates sharing of best practices, an advocacy platform to raise the national and international visibility of National Quality Control Laboratories (NQCL).
“The objectives of the Abuja meeting includes to reinforce the importance of quality control Laboratories in post marketing surveillance strengthen regional/ cross border collaborative survey of medicines in Africa as a means of protecting public health.
“Familiarize regional economic communities with instrumentation and analytical techniques to facilitate convergence for ensuring quality of medicines.
“Complete the roadmap for strengthening National Quality Control Laboratories infrastructure and systems to help make informed, reliable and consistent regulatory decisions, ” she said.
She added that the meeting will also emphasis the importance of quality control in the entire drug approval process, manufacturing to post marketing, among other things.
According to the DG, NAFDAC advocates daily for quality of medicines in the nation’s supply chain through strengthening of the internal capacities.
“The agency advocates daily control of medicines in the nation’s supply chain through strengthening of our internal capacities such as having quality control Laboratories with modern equipment with trained personnel, strong post marketing surveillance, inspection of manufacturing facilities and enforcement using international best practices.
“NAFDAC looks forward to support and collaboration from all stakeholders in delivering safe and quality medicines and all Nigerians towards a successful hosting of this continental meeting.
“I believe that at the end of the meeting, the heads of quality control Laboratories from the over 35 African countries would have achieved a clearer picture of the importance of the NQCLs and their convergence for collaborative reliance at the regional and continental levels.
“This realisation will ensure that substandard, falsified and counterfeit drugs products will be reduced to a minimum,” she stated.
