The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has joined an international research project aimed at improving vaccine safety and detecting fake or poor-quality vaccines in Nigeria and other countries.
The project, funded with a £3.7 million grant from the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council (MRC), will strengthen vaccine quality monitoring over the next three years through advanced screening technologies, laboratory testing and research.
The initiative, announced on Monday, is being led by the Medicine Quality Research Group (MQRG) at the University of Oxford in partnership with NAFDAC, Obafemi Awolowo University, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the University of East London, the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Thailand, and other international organisations.
The project builds on the Vaccine Identity Evaluation (VIE) Consortium, which was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to tackle the growing global problem of fake and poor-quality vaccines.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the project would improve the agency’s ability to monitor vaccines after they have been approved for use by introducing new screening technologies, carrying out routine laboratory tests and conducting research to identify the most effective and affordable ways to detect poor-quality vaccines.
She explained that the project builds on earlier research by the University of Oxford and its partners, where advanced scientific methods were successfully adapted to detect degraded and falsified vaccines across supply chains.
According to her, the next phase will test and refine these technologies under real-life conditions in Nigeria to determine how they can be effectively used to screen vaccines before they reach health facilities and the public.
Adeyeye said NAFDAC would play a key role in implementing the project by strengthening vaccine quality surveillance and using research findings to support regulatory decisions.
She added that the initiative aligns with the agency’s commitment to protecting public health through science, innovation and international collaboration.
The project is also expected to provide evidence that will support the wider deployment of technologies capable of verifying vaccine quality throughout the supply chain, helping to strengthen immunisation programmes and boost public confidence in vaccines.