Chinyere Amalu
6 November 2009
Abuja — For detection of fake drugs at the point of entry, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has employed the use of a cutting-edge technology a handle device called Truscan to fight counterfeiting in Nigeria.
Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, who revealed this yesterday in Abuja at the opening of the advanced computer training programme for NAFDAC management staff said the equipment had arrived the shores of Nigeria.
"We are the first medicine regulatory agency in the world to purchase Truscan," he said.
He said NAFDAC staff would soon be trained on its use, adding that the agency was also deploying "a text messaging technology to put the power of detection of counterfeits in the hands of Nigerian consumers thereby enlisting the entire Nigerian public in the war against counterfeiting.
"This would help detect counterfeit medicines in pharmaceutical outlets while covering the scope of its responsibility to safeguard the public. The Agency has embarked on full computerization of its operations to improve efficiency.
"For any regulatory authority to be successful, it needs to constantly review its activities, evolve new measures to build the capacity of staff, standardize operating procedures, with adequate funding and entrench a culture of fairness and be transparent in service delivery," added Orhii.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
This is great development by Nigeria-NAFDAC in it fight agianst fake drugs. I salute those Nigerian who surrendered their live in the fight against curruption in Nigeria.
Professor Dora Akunyili, A very powerful and couragious woman, has done a lot in this fight.
The present leadership of NAFDAC I bilieve are still on with the fight, I pray and hope that the technology implored will be sustained.
I love Nigeria
Naija Boy-(Whereever Whatever Forever)