NAFDAC to engage volunteers over staffing gaps

Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, has said the agency is severely understaffed, with about 2,000 staff serving a population of over 200 million people.

Speaking at a press conference at the agency’s office in Isolo, Lagos, the DG said NAFDAC required approximately 8,000 staff to function effectively and had resorted to engaging volunteers to bridge the gap.

“Based on our population, we are supposed to have something not less than 8,000 staff, but we currently have about 2,000. We over-stress ourselves because we have no choice. We must save the entire population and maintain Nigeria’s global standing in regulatory excellence, which we have achieved over the last seven years,” she said.

Adeyeye added that the agency was not asking for 10,000 staff at once but to double or triple the number of their staff while focusing on employing hardworking and competent individuals.

The volunteers, she assured, would meet the same rigorous standards and integrity requirements as regular staff, with many already screened and interviewed.

The Director General also reiterated NAFDAC’s commitment to reducing maternal and child mortality by ensuring the quality of key maternal health products, including oxytocin, tranexamic acid and carbetocin, used to prevent postpartum haemorrhage.

She acknowledged challenges with temperature-sensitive products like oxytocin, stating: “We are incentivizing healthcare workers to use oxygen to protect these products from degradation and are introducing solar-powered storage solutions for better preservation.”

NAFDAC also plans to enhance the regulation of multivitamins, antimalarials, antibiotics, and other essential medicines for children, emphasising the need to eliminate substandard products that could lead to preventable deaths.