The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has assured that it would give emergency approvals to products necessary and critical to support the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
The agency gave the assurance in a statement signed by its Director General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, in Abuja, Monday.
She further stressed that: “There will be limited Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspections for local facilities at this time; currently, the conduct of GMP of foreign facilities cannot be undertaken due to the pandemic and the current travel restriction on international travels for public officers.
“Applications for registration of products deemed to have urgent public health impact will be processed and given conditional and limited approvals.
“All regulatory processes will continue and the Agency remains operational with restricted access in place and a request that stakeholders engage relevant directorates via email and other electronic platforms, which are functional.”
The Covid-19 situation, she said, is fast evolving and that her agency will continue to monitor and adjust its responses accordingly.
She, therefore, advised Nigerians to “be mindful and ensure that measures are in place to keep ourselves and others safe from the Coronavirus by doing little things to stay safe by washing of hands with soap as often as is possible; use of hand sanitizers where there is no water for hand washing; avoid touching your face; cough into tissue and dispose responsibly and avoid shaking hands with or hugging people.
Other measures the NAFDAC Director General advised Nigerians to take, include keeping safe distance from people; as much as possible, stay home and above all, follow the presidential task force guidelines.
She noted that being mindful of its regulatory obligations, NAFDAC has put controls in place to ensure continued work process while also ensuring adequate protection of our staff and clients.
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