
In a bid to tackle the menace of fake products and ensure the quality of products in Nigeria and ensuring the well-being of the citizenry, NAFDAC has taken a giant step in getting a well-equipped laboratory for testing and monitoring.
The accreditation of Kaduna laboratory accreditation as ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 which is in partnership with the PQM programme funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and implemented by USP attracted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), Dr. Ron Piervincenzi. Also in attendance was the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the acting Director General (DG) of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, the Deputy Director of the USAID mission in Nigeria, Mrs. Erin Holleran, Chief of Party of the USP/Promoting Quality of Medicines (PQM) programme, Dr. Chimezie Anyakora, and a host of other dignitaries at a ceremony in Abuja.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the USP, Dr. Ron Piervincenzi expressed great joy and applauded NAFDAC for the giant step towards strengthening medicine quality systems in Nigeria and ensuring the well-being of Nigerians. He added that he is happy to be here to join the ministry in the accreditation of this laboratory.
It will be recalled that the PQM program has yielded the accreditation of three laboratories in Nigeria. The standard of the laboratory has been accorded to be international with test reports from ISO/IEC 17025 always accorded to be reliable, accurate and reproducible. Laboratories with ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation are highly regarded internationally. Technical competence of staff, validity and appropriateness of test methods, sampling, handling and transportation of test items, traceability of measurements and calibrations to required standard and quality assurance of test are features of such laboratories.