Agulu (Anambra) – The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Monday got ISO/IEC accreditation for testing raw materials at its South East office in Agulu, Anocha Local Government Area of Anambra.
The acting Director-General of the agency, Mrs Yetunde Oni, said in Agulu that the accreditation would now enable the laboratory to undertake multiple testing methods, including High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).
Oni said other tests to be carried out there included Ultra Violet/Visible Spectrophometry, Dilussion Testing, Uniformity of Dosage, Hydrogen Potential, Loss on Drying and Karl Fischer(for water determination).
She described the laboratory in Agulu as a capital project initiated by NAFDAC and not inherited from the Federal Ministry of Health.
Oni, who also said efforts were on to get ISO4074:2015 for multiple testing scopes for condom for the South East Laboratory, added that the one in Kaduna would be accredited soon.
“The test methods and protocols are in accordance with the international validated and approved compendia, thereby giving international acceptance to the test on the quality status of analysed regulated products.
“This mean that Agulu laboratory is competent and internationally recognised to produce valid and accurate results, ” she said.
The Director of Promoting Quality Medicine Programme (PQM) of the U.S Pharmacopeial Convention, Dr Jude Nwokike, said Nigeria was the first country in Africa supported by the programme with two ISO accredited laboratory.
Nwokike said that sales and distribution of poor quality medicine was not just a loss of resources, but a great danger to public health.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said that the Federal Government would reappraise the existing tax system in the pharmaceutical sub-sector as it was unsustainable.
Adewole, who said that the tax regime, which stipulated 20 per cent tax on imported raw material but zero tax on finished product, was an anomaly, noting that it would soon be reviewed to save local industry.
“We have an unusual situation in Nigeria; placing 20 per cent tax on imported raw materials and nothing on finished product is unsustainable.
“I have met with the pharmaceutical manufacturers and it did not take time to understand that it kills the industry, but we have also agreed that the Federal Government would look for a way of reversing the anomaly, ” he said.
The minister congratulated NAFDAC for achieving the accreditation feat and charged it to ensure adequate maintenance of the facilities.
Adewole, who pledged the continued support of his ministry, commended the management and staff of NAFDAC for their dedication to duty.
