By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa- National Agency for Food Drug Admini-stration and Control, NAFDAC, and the Bank of Industry, BoI, have initia-ted a N200 billion Pharmaceutical Develop-ment Fund to provide financial support to pharmaceutical companies to enable them get World Health Organisation, WHO, certification and obtain pre-qualification of their products.

NAFDAC Director-General, Paul Orhii, stated this, weekend, in Yenagoa at a stakeholder sensitisa-tion forum on NADFAC-regulated products. He said the fund would enable the industry provide essential medicines to the citizenry, boost the economy and provide jobs for Nigerians.

Orhii said: “NAFDAC, in collaboration with the Bank of Industry, initiated a N200 billion Pharmaceu-tical Development Fund aimed at providing financial support to the industry to enable them attain WHO certification and obtain pre-qualification of their products. This will enable them provide essential medicines to the citizenry.”

He added that the fund will also boost the quality of drugs produced, help devise various measures to combat fake and counterfeits drugs from circulation through the introduction of the use Mobile Authentication Services, MAS; Radio Frequency Identification, RFID, and black eyes.