The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has announced a renewed commitment to safeguarding public health through five strategic pillars.
The Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, outlined the agency’s focus for 2025 during a news conference held in Lagos on Thursday.
The five pillars include strong governance and leadership, maternal, newborn, and child health, institutionalisation of best practices, safety and quality of regulated products, and monitoring of the supply chain. Prof. Adeyeye emphasized that these priorities would guide NAFDAC’s efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s regulatory system and improve the overall health of the nation.
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Reflecting on NAFDAC’s progress over the past seven years, Prof. Adeyeye acknowledged the agency’s significant achievements and the need for continued efforts. “This realisation has sharpened my focus on how to strategically work towards continued strengthening of the regulatory system as a needed path toward safeguarding the health of the nation,” she said.
Prof. Adeyeye explained that enhancing governance and leadership within NAFDAC would ensure a highly motivated and disciplined workforce. Training will remain a priority to equip staff with the skills needed to meet the agency’s regulatory goals.
Emphasizing the importance of maternal, newborn, and child health, Prof. Adeyeye noted that NAFDAC would focus on the safety and quality of regulated products in this area. The agency aims to reduce maternal deaths and child morbidity by preventing postpartum haemorrhage and promoting better nutrition.
NAFDAC will place a strong emphasis on paediatric antimalarials and antibiotics. “Manufacturers will be incentivised to develop paediatric medicines and handheld toward achieving WHO prequalification,” Prof. Adeyeye added.
Despite these ambitions, the Director-General highlighted the agency’s staffing challenges, noting that NAFDAC is significantly under-staffed. “Based on our population, we are supposed to have nothing less than 10,000 staff; we have about 2,000 right now. We burn candles on both ends, overstress ourselves because we have to safeguard the health of Nigerians,” she said.
Prof. Adeyeye called for an increase in staffing levels to enhance the agency’s capacity to regulate effectively, though she acknowledged that reaching the ideal number of staff would be a gradual process.
NAFDAC’s strategic plan for 2025 is aimed at unlocking the value chain in the health sector, ensuring access to quality regulated products, and strengthening the industry to better serve the Nigerian population.
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