Lagos, 18th April, 2018 - A Regional Workshop with participants from 38 African countries and supported by World Health Organization (WHO) on the Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS) for substandard and falsified (SF) medical products opens in Lagos on 17 April 2018.

Sub-Saharan Africa contributes to over one third of all reports of suspected SF products received by WHO. Antimalarial and antibiotics are the most commonly reported products from Sub-Saharan Africa.

In a welcome address, Nigeria’s Director General for The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Moji Adeyeye said, “The problem of substandard and falsified medical products is an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires sustained action by both governmental and non-governmental bodies." 
She however commended   WHO which according to her stood as a pillar of support to National Medicines Regulatory Agencies (NMRAs) in the African region for so many years. 

Her words: “The availability of quality-assured, safe and efficacious medicines for the treatment, cure, prevention, diagnosis and mitigation of all disease conditions that plague humans cuts across the mandates of WHO and NMRAs. This age-long collaboration continues to provide both technical and financial assistance towards strengthening NMRA activities for greater efficiency and improved service delivery”. 

WHO conducts a range of activities with its Member States and stakeholders to minimize the risks of SF medical products, through a global network of National Regulatory focal points, data collection and analysis, issuance of alerts – this supports informed-decisions, secure supply chains and builds regulatory capacity.

Also speaking at the event, WHO Country Representative (WR) to Nigeria Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu stressed that health is a basic human right and Member states have the mandate to address the issue of SF products.

“To tackle the problem of substandard and falsified medical products, WHO has taken three-pronged approach of prevent, detect and respond” the WR said.

Other speakers at event included Mr. Michael Deats the WHO technical lead on SF medical products from Geneva who  emphasized that  that political will is required to translate policy agreed at the global level to sustainable actions on the ground equipped with appropriate financial and human resources.

At the end of the 3-day intensive workshop (17-19 April 2018), it is expected that focal points from participating countries will become better acquainted with the requisite knowledge and skills in preventing, detecting and responding to cases of SF medical products in the African region. 

Technical Contact:

Mr. Omotayo Hamzat; Email: hamzato [at] who.int; Tel: +234 803  332 2870