The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is intensifying efforts to tackle drug counterfeiting by deploying advanced technology, according to the agency’s Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye.
Speaking at a sensitization event in Kano on the Green Book Traceability Project and Pediatric Policy, Adeyeye, represented by Director of Post-Market Surveillance Pharm. Bitrus Fraden, emphasized the need for evolving strategies to counter increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters.
She highlighted that drug counterfeiting remains a serious challenge, requiring collective efforts beyond NAFDAC’s mandate. A 2015 study estimated that over 122,000 children under the age of five die annually in sub-Saharan Africa due to substandard anti-malaria drugs.
The director-general disclosed that fraudulent importers have been using fake NAFDAC registration numbers to sell counterfeit products. However, she assured that the newly enacted NAFDAC Regulations 2024 provide a legal framework to ensure that all pharmaceutical products—whether manufactured, imported, exported, advertised, sold, or distributed in Nigeria—are assigned a unique identifier. This tracking system, created by the brand owner, enables visibility along the supply chain, ensuring the authenticity of drugs and reducing the circulation of fake medicines.