By Chioma Obinna
Experts from the  World Health Organisation (WHO) have arrived in the country to audit and inspect three leading Nigerian pharmaceutical companies with a view to enhancing their potentials and standards towards attaining WHO prequalification of medicines.
The Pharmaceutical companies are Swiss Pharma Limited, May & Baker Nigeria Plc and Evans Medical Plc. The prequalification audit, is expected to help Nigerian pharmaceutical industry to meet WHO prequalification global requirements for drug procurement.

Speaking when the WHO team paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, affirmed the Federal Government commitment towards the realisation of the WHO prequalification (WHO -PQ) requirements.

Orhii who noted the importance of WHO prequalification lamented that “it is a shame that inpsite of the population of Nigeria, not even one pharmaceutical company in Nigeria has attained WHO prequalification”

His words, “If our manufacturers should embrace WHO-PQ and build appropriate capacity to produce drugs locally that meet international standards of quality, safety and efficacy,  we will attain self sufficiency in our drug needs and may not need to import again, blocking the avenue of importing counterfeit medicines into Nigeria.”