Why Nigeria may keep depending on foreign vaccines – DG NAFDAC

For millions of Nigerian families, access to vaccines can mean the difference between preventing a serious illness and watching a loved one struggle with a potentially avoidable disease.

But the country may continue to depend heavily on imported vaccines unless it succeeds in reviving local vaccine manufacturing, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has warned.

Adeyeye made the disclosure in Lagos over the weekend while appealing to international development partners to support Nigeria’s establishment of vaccine manufacturing facilities, particularly a fill-and-finish modular plant.

She said local vaccine production had become the missing link in Nigeria’s quest to attain the World Health Organisation’s Maturity Level 4 for vaccine lot release.

According to her, NAFDAC has met eight of the nine requirements necessary for full benchmarking in the regulation of medicines and vaccines, with vaccine lot release remaining the outstanding requirement.

“We want to call on our international partners that have been of tremendous help. Without them, we wouldn’t have been here,” Adeyeye said.

She urged the partners to support the country’s efforts to establish fill-and-finish modular vaccine manufacturing, stressing that Nigeria had the technical capacity to achieve the required standard.

Adeyeye said the estimated cost of meeting the requirement was manageable, adding that the agency had already worked out a pathway towards achieving WHO Maturity Level 4.

The NAFDAC boss also recalled that Nigeria once manufactured vaccines, declaring that the country must return to local production.

“It’s high time we went back to vaccine manufacturing,” she said.

For Nigerian parents, the push is particularly significant as the country continues to seek stronger health security and reduced dependence on imported medical products.

Adeyeye said local pharmaceutical manufacturers had demonstrated that they could respond to the country’s health needs when given the right policy environment and incentives.

She disclosed that NAFDAC’s data showed a 70 per cent reduction in imports of products covered under the “5 plus 5” and Ceiling Initiative between 2021 and 2025, as local manufacturers increased production.

She attributed the progress to improved regulatory capacity and the willingness of Nigerian manufacturers to meet international quality standards.

The NAFDAC chief also highlighted the agency’s international progress, including the WHO prequalification of its Yaba laboratory in September 2023 and the successful re-benchmarking of the agency at Maturity Level 3.

She, however, stressed that achieving the next level would require Nigeria to demonstrate its capacity for vaccine lot release.

Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN), Mr Oluwatosin Jolayemi, called for the extension of the Presidential Executive Order on pharmaceutical manufacturing for another two years after its expiration in March 2027.

Jolayemi said medicine security and pharmaceutical sovereignty could not be achieved through short-term interventions, but required consistent policies, investment, capacity development and a predictable business environment.

He spoke at the 8th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers’ Expo in Lagos, which brought together manufacturers, regulators, investors, development partners and other stakeholders.

A total of 132 companies from Nigeria and countries including the United States, China, Argentina, Egypt, India, Rwanda, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany and Indonesia participated in the two-day event.

For Nigeria, however, the bigger question goes beyond the expo: when will vaccines needed to protect Nigerian children and families be manufactured at home?