NAFDAC joins £3.7m global vaccine safety project to combat fake, substandard vaccines

… Oxford-led research to strengthen Nigeria’s vaccine surveillance, boost public confidence

By Chioma Obinna

Nigeria’s battle against fake and substandard vaccines has received a major boost as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, joined a £3.7 million international research consortium aimed at strengthening vaccine quality surveillance and protecting millions of people from compromised vaccines.

The three-year initiative, funded through the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council (MRC) Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme, will develop and validate cutting-edge technologies capable of detecting degraded, substandard and falsified vaccines before they reach patients.

The project, led by the University of Oxford through its Medicine Quality Research Group, brings together leading global institutions, including NAFDAC, Obafemi Awolowo University, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the University of East London and the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Thailand.