NATIONAL Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called for stiffer punishment for drug law offenders to discourage people from engaging in the illicit trade.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, who made this call on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to the agency by the Association of Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NIROPHARM), submitted that there was need to review the laws and enact new ones that would impose stiffer penalties on violators.

He stated," we are working very closely with the Federal Ministry of Justice, the National Assembly and other relevant government agencies to review the penalties. It is not all penalties that people have to be prosecuted legally.

For people, who willfully manufacture products- fake products, counterfeit products- that injures Nigerians, who willfully manipulate Good Manufacturing Produces (GMP), we want to impose stricter punishment for them. People, who bring products that they know that they are bad quality, sub-standard, we need to impose stricter punishment for those kind of people."

Orhii added that funding remains the biggest problem facing the agency. " We need more funding because our operations are very cost intensive. We need funding to retrain our staff, to retool our lab and to provide even basic things like computer access to the Internet. Of course without the Internet it will be difficult to keep up with what is going on around the world right now. So things like that is a major challenge to us," he said.

He therefore, advised foods and drugs manufacturers to be involved in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and International Best Practices in their production processes.

Speaking also at the meeting, President of NIROPHARM, Mr. Ade Popoola called on NAFDAC to ensure that the duration for registration of products in Nigeria do not take more than one month as stipulated in the agency's guidelines.

A situation where registration process is delayed even when relevant registration documents have been submitted, Popoola noted, will only make it difficult for sick patients to have access to first class medication.

He added, " NAFDAC should consider having regular interactive sessions with stakeholders which could be quarterly or bi-annually as the case may be. There is need for increase in efficiency by NAFDAC. It should consider an increase in manpower. Regulated companies have increased over time and there are presently too few regulators to create a positive impact. There is also need for the agency to support Intellectual Property Rights".