Safety Monitoring: NAFDAC DG Inaugurates 600 Pharmacists Reserve Volunteer Program

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has received 600 pharmacists (already working in different fields) into a new initiative – Pharmacists Reserve Volunteer Program of the Agency in her renewed efforts to mitigate substandard and falsified drugs and unwholesome food with a view to taking regulation to the doorstep of the Nigerian people.

Receiving the young Nigerian pharmacists and administering oath of allegiance on them, she urged them to serve the country with integrity that is beyond negotiation, noting that in the course of their service, they would encounter offers and pressures designed to compromise them.

As patriotic Nigerians, she admonished them to reject such offers, adding that the moment a regulator can be bought, the public loses its only protection.

She explained that the six hundred qualified, service-ready pharmacists, already pursuing their careers in different fields, were drawn from all thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory, representing every one of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

Prof. Adeyeye explained that each of the volunteer was selected not by chance, but through a deliberate and transparent process that balanced merit, availability, and fair geographic representation, so that no state and no region is left behind in this national effort, adding that the Programme is more than an internship or an attachment.

“It is an investment in you, and through you, in the regulatory future of this country.” She said that they would be exposed to the real work of medicines regulation: pharmacovigilance, compliance monitoring, quality assurance, data collection, and public sensitisation against drug abuse.

The NAFDAC DG said they would also learn what it means to stand between the Nigerian public and substandard, falsified, or dangerous products, stressing that the vision behind the programme was to build, over time, a national reserve of working pharmacists who can be called upon at short notice wherever the health of Nigerians is at risk: during a product recall, a suspected circulation of falsified medicines, or an emergency in a hard-to-reach community to volunteer for a few hours or days.

She disclosed that her ambition was that within the next few years, every state of the federation would have a standing pool of trained, vetted and mobilizable pharmacists working alongside “our state Offices, so that NAFDAC’s regulatory presence is felt not only in our laboratories and at our ports of entry, but in every market, community pharmacy, patent medicine store and primary health centre in this country.”

Prof. Adeyeye opined that Regulation that lives only in the capital cannot protect a nation of more than two hundred million people, stressing that “the Programme is how we take regulation to the doorstep of the Nigerian people.”

Now, what do we expect from you? The NAFDAC boss listed availability and discipline as unnegotiable requirements adding that when they are called upon for an assignment, they must respond promptly and ensure that they see it through.

She emphasized integrity that is beyond negotiation, noting that in the course of service, the young pharmacists would encounter offers and pressures designed to compromise them. She however, urged them to reject such offers, adding that the moment a regulator can be bought, the public loses its only protection.

Prof. Adeyeye also emphasized confidentiality adding that the information they handle during inspections and investigations belongs to the Agency and to the Nigerian people, not to social media.

“Fourth, a learning posture: ask questions, read the guidelines, take your training seriously and document your work properly,” adding that they should have respect for the communities they will serve.

“You will enter markets, pharmacies and health facilities as ambassadors of NAFDAC and of the pharmacy profession. Conduct yourselves accordingly,” she said.

The DG highlighted what they stand to gain, adding that it must be a partnership of mutual benefit. According to her, they will acquire hands-on regulatory experience that no classroom can offer – pharmacovigilance reporting, laboratory awareness, risk communication and enforcement procedure.

She said they would be trained and mentored by professionals with decades of experience, and their service would be formally documented, with certification and letters of service that strengthen their standing before any employer, licensing body or postgraduate institution, at home or abroad.

She noted that they would build a national network of colleagues across all thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory, a network that will serve their careers long after the Programme.

The experience acquired can be cited for career advancement across the wider regulatory and pharmaceutical sector. She said those who might have served in the program with distinction would have demonstrated their capacity in a way that no application letter can.

Above all, she added that they would gain the satisfaction of knowing that a child who received genuine medicine, a mother who was spared a falsified product and a family that was protected from harm, were protected in part because the volunteers chose to serve.

Prof. Adeyeye, however, urged the Directors and State Coordinators to take ownership of the PRVP volunteers, mentor them, deploy them meaningfully, adding that they should let their service translate into real strengthening of the regulatory reach at state level.

“To our six hundred volunteers: you carry today not just a certificate of enrollment, but a pledge to serve with integrity, to represent NAFDAC and your profession with honour, and to place the safety of the Nigerian public above every other consideration,” she said as she formally declared the NAFDAC Pharmacists Reserve Volunteer Programme inaugurated.

The Coordinator of the programme and Director, Narcotics and Controlled Substances, NCS, Dr. Momodu Omamegbe Rametu stated that what began only a few weeks ago as a Call for Expression of Interest has become a national pool of six hundred young pharmacists drawn from every state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

For clarity, she explained that the PRVP initiative is an organised initiative or backup system set aside for emergency use, to provide supplemental support or specific services, adding that it increases citizen participation and involvement in regulating, post-marketing, drug demand reduction (drug abuse campaigns).

Speaking in the same vein, Coordinator of NAFDAC Training School, Dr. Tunde Sigbeku restated that his role is to ensure impacting of knowledge, which is the bedrock of capacity and efficiency while the volunteers’ physical resourcefulness and strength are the vehicles that drive the mission.

Dr. Sigbeku noted that being a volunteer is more of a call to service than a title, adding that it’s a call to responsibility and it calls for devotion and determination to serve.

“In the online training school, we will be giving good details of how NAFDAC operates. We are going to be sharing with you the activities of Post Market Surveillance, Pharmacovigilance, Awareness on Prevention of Antimicrobial Resistance through proper use of medicines and veterinary medicines in livestock and fish, Inspection and Enforcement I&E, Narcotic and Controlled Substances, etc.”

“We are going to be diving deep into the menace of drug abuse, the impact on society. You will be a good hand for us in surveillance intelligence gathering and above all in research.”

Dr. Sigbeku however, congratulated the DG, saying “this is the first time the Agency is having a backup or a reserve of foot soldiers across the county to help us in the battle against fake drug and substandard products.”

Photo Caption: (L-R): Director, Investigation and Enforcement, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Mr. Martin Iluyomade, Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, and Director, Narcotics and Controlled Substances, Dr. (Mrs.) Ramatu Momodu at the inauguration of 600 pharmacists into a new initiative – Pharmacists Reserve Volunteer Programme in Lagos on Friday.

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