What is NAFDAC and what is it doing about fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria?

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1. 1

   National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 18, 2026Checked Oct 19, 2026

   “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is a Nigerian federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale, and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and packaged water. The agency is headed by Mojisola Adeyeye, who was appointed in 2017 by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the director-general. She completed her five-year term on 2 November 2022 and was reappointed for a second term on 1 December 2022.”

2. 2

   Nearly one in five essential medicines fail quality standards in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis of MNCH medicines and antimalarials.

   PLOS global public health (Rusatira et al.)Published Sep 2, 2026Checked Oct 19, 2026

   “Estimates for corticosteroids and hematinics carried wide confidence intervals, reflecting sparse underlying data. Western and Central Africa had the greatest regional burdens, whereas Southern Africa showed lower pooled estimates but with sparse data. Substandard medicines accounted for most poor-quality products (pooled prevalence 12.8%), while falsified medicines were less common (1.2%). Therapeutic category, geographic subregion, and use of mystery-client purchasing were significant predictors of heterogeneity, whereas publication year and methodological quality were not. Nearly one in five essential MNCH and antimalarial medicines tested in Africa are SF, posing a major barrier to reducing preventable maternal, neonatal, and child mortality. Strengthened regulatory systems, risk-based post-market surveillance, and priority attention to high-risk therapeutics, particularly uterotonics and antimalarials, are urgently needed. As the African Medicines Agency becomes operational, this evidence base offers a concrete foundation for directing continental regulatory investment where it is most needed.”

3. 3

   A comparative study between Near-Infrared (NIR) spectrometer and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) on the sensitivity and specificity.

   PloS one (Maffioli & Anyakora)Published Mar 25, 2025Checked Oct 19, 2026

   “We compared a novel Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectrometer with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) by analyzing 246 drug samples purchased from retail pharmacies across the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria. We measured the sensitivity and specificity of a patented and Artificial Intelligence (AI) - powered handheld NIR spectrometer, which uses a proprietary machine-learning algorithm as well as hardware and software, across four categories of medicines: analgesics, antimalarials, antibiotics, and antihypertensives. Our findings reveal that the prevalence of SF medicines remains high, with 25% of samples failing the HPLC test. When tested with the NIR spectrometer, only a smaller subset of medicines-specifically analgesics-failed the test. Sensitivity and specificity for all medicines were 11% and 74%, respectively. For analgesics, the sensitivity was 37%, and the specificity was 47%. While these devices hold great potential, regulators should require more independent evaluations of various drug formulations before implementing them in real-world settings. Improving the sensitivity of these devices should be prioritized to ensure that no SF medicines reach patients.”

4. 4

   Drivers and strategies to combat substandard and falsified medicines in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review of qualitative evidence.

   The journal of medicine access (Mekasha et al.)Published Jan 1, 2026Checked Oct 19, 2026

   “In addition, the review identified that emphasizing the need for strengthening regulatory systems, technological innovations (track and trace), public and professional education, and addressing underlying socioeconomic drivers are among the main actions used as mitigation strategies. This qualitative systematic review concluded that interconnected market pressures, weak regulation, fragile supply chains, and knowledge gaps are significant issues. Hence, effective action requires integrated policies that strengthen enforcement capacity, secure supply chains through affordable track-and-trace technologies, and launch context-specific education campaigns to combat public mistrust in quality-assured generics. These lead to translating systemic insights into practical policy implementation for medicine quality and positive public health outcomes.”

5. 5

   Substandard and Falsified Medicines, Regulatory Capacity and Public Health: A Narrative Review With a Focus on Africa.

   Public health challenges (Vandy et al.)Published Aug 31, 2026Checked Oct 19, 2026

   “African regulatory systems show substantial heterogeneity, with some authorities achieving the WHO GBT Maturity Level 3, whereas many remain at lower maturity levels. Recent advances include digital regulatory platforms, reliance mechanisms, regional harmonisation, WHO prequalification and the establishment of the African Medicines Agency.ConclusionStrengthening national regulatory authorities to WHO GBT Maturity Level 3 and above requires sustained political commitment, predictable financing, legal reform, robust post‑market surveillance, accredited laboratory capacity and effective regional reliance mechanisms. Medicines regulation should be recognised as a core public health and health‑security priority, serving as a foundational investment in protecting populations and ensuring equitable access to quality‑assured medicines.”

6. 6

   The Role of Research, Quality Improvement, and Training in Achieving Medicines Security in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Exploration of Stakeholders' Perspectives.

   Health science reports (Adigwe et al.)Published Aug 4, 2026Checked Oct 19, 2026

   “Similarly, over three-quarters of the study cohort (86.1%) indicated that the pharmaceutical sector, as well as relevant agencies in the industry, should be prioritised by the government, as this was critical in achieving medicines security. Also, a strong majority of the participants indicated that attaining the World Health Organization pre-qualification status was necessary to ensure access to high-quality medicines. There was a significant association between the participants' sociodemographic characteristics and key study variables. A higher proportion of the respondents with more than 5 years of experience agreed that investment in research and development was important to improve the quality of medicines, and this was statistically significant (p = 0.009).ConclusionThis cross-sectional study highlights strategic areas based on stakeholders' perceptions where interventions and reforms can be channelled to support efforts towards expediting the achievement of medicines security in Nigeria.”