National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will today commence clinical trials of malaria vaccine nationwide, Africa Today News, New York has learnt.
As a result, it has mandated that each pharmaceutical company establish a Pharmacovigilance (PV) surveillance section.
PV will revolutionize things, according to the Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who spoke over the weekend in Lagos.
In a statement by Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, yesterday, the DG stressed that the industry must put structures in place to ensure monitoring of products across the supply chain.
She maintained that strategies, goals, and clear-cut objectives to achieving the mission must be conceptualised.
Adeyeye said Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) must, as a matter of importance, train and engage relevant stakeholders on the need for pharmacovigilance and use of relevant platforms for reportage of Adverse Drug Reactions/Adverse Events Following Immunisation (ADR/AEFI) to NAFDAC.
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She submitted that sustainable safety of medical products in Nigeria lies on stakeholders, urging compliance with the PV initiative and other existing laws to promote the sector.
Adeyeye pledged that the six pharmacovigilance centres established across the geopolitical zones would be strengthened to deliver creditably.
The NAFDAC boss assured Nigerians that she would personally supervise the exercise.
She explained that community pharmacists are strategic in this project, as according to her, they penetrate the populace based on available statistics.
Adeyeye submitted that since community pharmacists are also involved in immunisation, it has become imperative that their PV systems should be accessed to ensure compliance with regulations and guidelines.
Recalling, Adeyeye said NAFDAC, has since inception, embraced a number of activities to ensure safe use of medical products in the country.
She said in recent times, PV was brought to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic and accentuated to achieve the African Union Smart Safety Surveillance (AU 3S) on the continent.