The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has inaugurated its Pharmacists Reserve Volunteer Programme, enrolling 600 qualified pharmacists into voluntary regulatory service across Nigeria.
The programme was inaugurated by NAFDAC Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who described the initiative as a strategic investment in the country’s regulatory future.
Adeyeye said the programme was designed to extend NAFDAC’s regulatory reach to markets, community pharmacies and primary healthcare centres across the country.
The 600 volunteers were selected from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory through a merit-based process aimed at ensuring representation across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Under the programme, the volunteers will form a national reserve of trained and deployable pharmacists who can be mobilised during product recalls, outbreaks involving falsified medicines and other public health emergencies.
They will also participate in pharmacovigilance, compliance monitoring, quality assurance, drug abuse sensitisation and enforcement activities within their respective states.
The programme will be implemented in four phases: onboarding, virtual training, field engagement and ongoing management.
In return, the volunteers will receive hands-on regulatory experience, professional certification and formal letters of service.
The NAFDAC Director-General charged the volunteers to carry out their duties with integrity and professionalism, stressing that the protection of public health and safety must remain their primary responsibility.
