The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has blamed pharmaceutical companies and marketing authorisation holders for delaying updates to its Greenbook.

The agency made this known yesterday at the opening of a two-day sensitisation and awareness workshop in Lagos.

Speaking on behalf of the Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director of Post-Marketing Surveillance, Fraden Bitrus, said several products registered by NAFDAC are not yet visible on the Greenbook platform because companies have not submitted all the required data.

“Some products are registered but not yet visible on the Greenbook because their marketing authorisation holders have not submitted the required information,” Bitrus said.

He urged all drug manufacturers and importers to urgently comply, warning that the delay hinders public access to information on approved medical products and weakens regulatory transparency.

Bitrus described counterfeit medical products as a man-made evil driven by greed. “These counterfeit products are produced by greedy businessmen and their international collaborators who only want to make money. It is one of the worst forms of inhumanity from man to fellow man,” he said.

He highlighted NAFDAC’s ongoing interventions, including consumer safety publications, daily newspaper alerts on fake drugs, the ‘Shine Your Eye’ programme on national television, and the use of digital tools like TrueScan and Media Lab.

On the Pharmaceutical Products Flexibility Regulation 2024, Bitrus said the system will allow every regulated product, whether imported, exported, manufactured or distributed in Nigeria to carry a unique identifier, enabling full tracking through the supply chain.