The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has expressed concerns over its inadequate workforce, describing the agency as extremely under-staffed.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this during a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, where she unveiled the agency’s strategic focus for 2025.
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Addressing the issue, Adeyeye said, “The number of staff that an agency has or should have depends on the population of the country because it is easier to regulate a country with one million than a country with 300 million people.
“I’m just giving an example 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.
“We are not asking for 10,000 staff now; we are just asking for double or triple what we currently have.”
Despite the workforce challenge, Adeyeye revealed the agency’s five strategic pillars aimed at further safeguarding the nation’s health. These 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.
“Reflection on the past seven years has brought into focus the many accomplishments that have been achieved in NAFDAC and so many others to be attained. 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,” Adeyeye stated.
The agency plans to strengthen its workforce to ensure motivation and discipline, while prioritising staff training. Adeyeye also highlighted the importance of addressing maternal, newborn, and child health through improved safety and quality of regulated products.
“We will pay more attention to the safety and quality of regulated products for maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition. This will help to prevent postpartum haemorrhage and maternal deaths and drastically reduce child morbidity,” she said.
Adeyeye also announced plans to incentivise manufacturers to develop paediatric medicines and assist them in achieving World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalification. “Great emphasis will be placed on paediatric antimalarials and antibiotics,” she added.
