Nigeria’s food and drug regulatory body, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has announced that Nigeria would soon start manufacturing its vaccines.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye disclosed that the Country’s achieving the ISO 9001 in June 2019, kept Nigeria in good standing to strive to get to the maturity level three which enables manufacturing of its own vaccines.
ISO 9001 is being the world’s most recognised Quality Management System (QMS) standard means big strand in the right direction.
Adeyeye noted that the agency is leveraging technology to trace vaccines, especially when the COVID-19 vaccines arrive in the country.
Speaking during the NAFDAC’s Staff Award Ceremony, Adeyeye explained that this will enable the agency to track and trace vaccines received by patients to ensure that they are safe and monitored for adverse reactions on patients.
‘With regards to the establishment of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) global benchmarking and adoption of international best practices, we want to get to the maturity level three so that Nigeria can manufacture her own vaccines and we are all working on this every day,’ she said.
Speaking further, Adeyeye added that the agency’s laboratories were being upgraded to international standards using equipment that were compliant to ISO 17025.
‘Our laboratories are changing very rapidly with improvements in new equipment and supplies.’
‘Our four laboratories that were accredited before I came have received re-accreditation. We have also gotten a new lab – the Yaba Biologies and Vaccines Lab accredited for the first time. Also, our two other labs will be accredited very soon,’ she added.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK