Reps committee on science and tech to review delay certification of products by NAFDAC

* Commends NNMDA Director General for progress made in agency, natural medicine development in Nigeria

House of Representative Committee on Science and technology have said it would embark on a holistic review of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) certification and registration process of natural products.

The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Beni Lar said, this during an oversight visit of the committee to the Nigerian National Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) in Lagos.

She said the science and technology agencies have continuously complained about entrepreneurs’ difficulty in getting NAFDAC’s certification for their products, which calls for a review and investigation by the committee to resolve the issue.

“It is a general problem, where researchers come up with research and finished products, especially in the medical field as well as food and drug, and they are unable to get NAFDAC’s certification. The process must be reviewed, either in the practice or delivering the license to the manufacturers or there is something wrong with the whole process, which must be reviewed before the house of representative,” she said. She, however, called for a public private partnership to fund the agencies, as the government is going through financial difficulties – with the available funds slashed across all sectors, ministries and departments.

Meanwhile, Lar commended the NNMDA in developing products from natural medicines, research as well as training manpower.

Lar, who also lauded the Director General, NNMDA, Samuel Etatuvie, for his impressive performance in improving the activities and productivity of the agency, said, despite the constraint in the budget allocation, the agency has a functional labouratory which they plan to take international.

The DG, NNMDA said, the visit of the committee, which was part of monitoring and evaluation is a good sign to the advancement of the agency, adding that the agency will continuously work hard to achieve the mandate of the government.