The Chairman Senate Committee on Health *Dr. Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe* has emphasised on the need to effectively control the medicines and drugs used by people on the African continent in order to safeguard the healthcare system of the region.
Oloriegbe noted this while joining the stakeholders in drug regulatory and control sector in African Nations to take part in the 3rd Annual Meeting of *African Medicine Quality Forum* taking place at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja.
This years event being hosted by Nigeria, through the National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in collaboration with African Union Development Agency-New Partnership For Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD), the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) is themed _Perfect Vision For Quality Medicines in Africa_. The meeting has in attendance eminent scientists, stakeholders from different health and drug related agencies, as well as heads of drug control organisations from across African Nations and beyond coming together to deliberate on quality assurance model for drug control in their respective countries and how they can collaborate to surmount challenges arising from what is perceived as one of the biggest public health issues in the region.
Dr. Oloriegbe while speaking at the event emphasised on the need for quality in the medicines taken by the people and how important they are to the healthcare delivery of any nation. "A nation with unhealthy citizen is a sick nation and such a nation cannot fully harvest her potentials." He said.
The physician turned lawmaker also noted the essentiality of drugs and medicines control agencies towards eradication of substandard drugs across the continent.
Oloriegbe while restating the commitment of the Nigerian government to safeguard and protect the wellbeing of her citizens through the NAFDAC, the body saddled with responsibility of drug control in the country assured the agency of the 9th assembly’s partnership in every necessary area.
He however charged the Forum, to in their deliberations, map out strategies for strengthening National Quality Control, Laboratory Infrastructures and System, noting that such will help in making informed, reliable and consistent regulatory decisions in the continent. He at the same time called for synergy and collaborative efforts amongst African countries as this will go a long way in achieving their set goals.
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