NAFDAC gets new laboratory to boost food, drug safety

As part of efforts to ensure the safety of foods and drugs and other regulated products in Nigeria through improved laboratory analysis, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has acquired a new state of the art Agilent High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) laboratory instrument to strengthen its regulatory operations.

Commissioning the equipment in Lagos on Tuesday at the agency’s Central Drug Control Laboratory(CDCL) in Yaba, Acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, said the agency was able to procure the instrument through effective support and collaboration with the Bank of Industry(BOI).
Her words: “This instrument procured with the support of BOI will avail our laboratory analysts the opportunity to work with user-friendly, high output, sensitive instrument with multiple detectors that can handle various product types thus improving timelines of analysis of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, veterinary and other regulated products.

“ It will also equip our analysts to detect and pronounce on substandard and falsified medical products as well as unwholesome foods in our collective efforts to protect public health.”
Oni said that the goal of the agency is to achieve zero tolerance to counterfeiting of NAFDAC regulated products and to safeguard the health of the nation.

“We are determined and committed to ensuring that only the right quality foods, drugs and other regulated products are manufactured exported, imported, advertised, sold and used in Nigeria.

“We are also committed to ensuring quality and timing releases of laboratory reports, hence our quest for top-notch laboratories with adequate equipment and well trained staff to perform optimally at all times,’’ she said.
Soliciting support from other stakeholders in keeping the equipment functioning which she described as capital intensive, Oni appealed to the Federal Ministry of Health to assist the agency with a Staff Clinic considering the hazardous nature of its operation and to also ensure a healthy workforce.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Binta Bello, called for stronger collaboration between health and other sectors of the economy as it would help to reposition the health sector in areas of infrastructure support, capacity building and delivery of quality health services.
Bello said that HPLC Laboratory would help to tackle effectively the scourge of fake, counterfeit and substandard medicine that had been a challenge to pharmaceutical industry and the general populace as millions of Naira and thousands of lives have been lost because of the scourge.

“The use of HPLC and other very sensitive analytical techniques will be a great tool in effectively identifying counterfeit pharmaceuticals and in combating counterfeiting.
“The problem of fake drug proliferation in Nigeria has affected the credibility of the healthcare system and has exerted very harmful effects on the consumer resulting to illness, disability and even death”, she said.
Bello also added: “It is encouraging to note the various unrelenting approaches, including cutting edge technologies employed by NAFDAC in tackling this menace and bringing it under control.

“Some of the several cutting edge technologies deployed over the years by NAFDAC to combat the counterfeit challenge include Truscan Device, GPHF-Minilab, and Mobile Authentication Service.”
On his part, Acting Managing Director, BOI, Waheed Olagunju, said the essence of the donated equipment was to ensure that product registration time for manufacturers was reduced and efficiency increased.