The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has emphasized the importance of relocating open drug markets to Coordinated Wholesale Centres, CWCs.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this at a news conference while reacting to the recent relocation of open drug markets in Kano.
She informed that the relocation would apply to open drug markets in Lagos, Onitsha and Aba, stressing that the action is in line with the National Drug Distribution Guidelines, NDDG, a decision recommended by the Presidential Committee on Pharmaceutical Sector Reform, PCPSR.
She pointed out that the PCPSR was constituted in 2003 to develop strategies toward sanitizing the drug distribution system in the country and that gave birth to the CWCs.
The NAFDAC DG further said the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, was one of the architects of the CWCs and had the full support of the idea, where a clear mandate was given to NAFDAC and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, to ensure its full implementation.
Adeyeye said, “The PCPSR recommended the development of National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG) as a key strategy to coordinate the drug distribution sub-sector and all operators in the open drug markets in Kano, Lagos, Onitsha and Aba were given a December 2018 deadline by the then Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to relocate to CWCs.
“The NDDG gives a clear mandate to the regulatory agencies, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), and NAFDAC to ensure its full implementation and compliance by concerned stakeholders.”
