The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it was set to partner with Labiofam, a Cuban-based pharmaceutical company to promote the adoption of biotechnology for malaria eradication in Nigeria.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Paul Orhii, made the disclosure when he received a delegation from company in Abuja on Monday.
He
said the adoption of biotechnology which used biolarvicides in the
eradication of malaria could boost Federal Government’s planned malaria
eradication programme.
Orhii said the
company is a world leader in the use of biotechnology to manage some of
the world’s most disturbing health challenges, stressing that Nigerians
would benefit from it immensely.
The NAFDAC boss said “Cuba is a known leader in biotechnology all over the world, it has demonstrated this leadership in different ramifications.
Recently,
a company called Labiofam introduced to Nigeria the latest in
biotechnology in cancer control and management and today, they have
indicated interest to partner with us in the eradication of malaria.
NAFDAC
will look at what the company is introducing and partner with it in the
interest of Nigerians; for me, I have no doubt in my mind that this
will benefit Nigeria a lot.’’
Orhii
said Labiofam would leverage on the successes it had achieved in
introducing affordable and convenient means of cancer management in
Nigeria to promote its technology for malaria eradication.
He added that “the
guarantee of eliminating malaria totally from Nigeria is largely
dependent on biotechnology, which kills the larvae that can develop into
mosquitoes.’’
Earlier, the leader of the team, Aramis Martinez, had told the NAFDAC boss that the company was committed to sharing its expertise in dealing with challenging health issues.
Martinez,
a vector consultant and head of the company’s malaria eradication
project in Niger Republic, said the technology had been tested and
certified to be suitable for malaria eradication.
He
said the technology would assist Nigeria to reduce its malaria burden
and related illnesses by introducing the mosquito eradication
technology.
The expert assured that
the technology, when adopted, would not only be effective but would be
most cost effective means of eradicating malaria on a large scale.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the company recently introduced its new technology in cancer management to Nigerians.
NAN recalls that the immediate past Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, had hinted Nigeria’s adoption of the biolarvicide technology in the new phase of its National Malaria Programme.
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