World Health Organisation (WHO), has approved the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Yaba Laboratory, as the Central Drug Control Laboratory (CDCL).
The director-general of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this on Thursday, said that the approval of the laboratory for the agency was a significant milestone in its dedication to ensuring the safety and quality of pharmaceutical products.
Adeyeye revealed that the pre-qualification approval was communicated to the agency via a mail received from WHO pre-qualification inspection team on September 15, adding that the success was finally published on the WHO website.
"You can access the information on the pre-qualification procedure, as well as the list of pre-qualified quality control laboratories, on the pre-qualification unit medicine website," she added.
The NAFDAC boss stated that this prestigious recognition brought numerous benefits to CDCL, NAFDAC, and most importantly, to the Nigeria people, while listing the benefits as global recognition, enhanced pharmaceutical quality, international collaboration and advanced public health.
Others are streaming regulatory processes, enhancement of credibility and advancement of Nigeria's healthcare system, she added.
"This is a huge landmark achievement for the agency and Nigeria. Very few laboratories in the world have the apex status of WHO prequalification. Our journey towards these milestones actually started in 2010, but with renewed efforts and more commitment to attempts by our management and Federal Government in the last four years, we have finally achieved this goal. The WHO pre-qualification of the CDCL is a testament to the unwavering commitment of NAFDAC to meeting international standards of excellence in drug quality control and regulation," she said.
According to her, the accomplishment would not have been possible without the efforts, devotion, and unwavering support of the health minister, NAFDAC management, CDCL employees, and other partners including the Global Fund, WHO Nigeria country office, and USP PQM + Nigeria country office.
