Andreas Seiter, a
Senior Health Specialist with the World Bank, Washington, on Friday
pledged the bank’s support for the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Mr Seiter made the
pledge during a courtesy visit on the management of NAFDAC in Lagos,
saying the bank is ready to assist the agency to clean up the country’s
drug system.
The World Bank
official noted that Africa is the continent with the highest cases of
counterfeit drugs in the world. He said that the World Bank is willing
to render financial and technical assistance to the agency in order to
strengthen efforts to combat the sale of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.
“A pharmaceutical
industry that comes from a country with a good regulatory body will
find it much easier to sell its drugs across the border,” he said.
Dr Dinesh Nair,
also with the World Bank, Nigeria, said that the partnership will
ensure that NAFDAC continue to play an effective role in certifying the
quality of imported drugs, food and cosmetics.
