National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that NAFDAC in 2012 registered a total of 8,481 products with packaged water (pure water) topping the list with 3,012.
This was followed by drugs with 2,605 registered products and food products with 1,830 .
In a report obtained by Daily Sun, the medical devices category recorded the lowest number with 359 registered products.
“In the year 2013, there was an increase in the number of product registration, which grew by 11.8 per cent to a total of 9,482 products. Similar to 2012, packaged water recorded the highest number of products registered, with 3,357 followed by drugs and food, with 2,906 and 2,244 respectively.
“A total number of 10,686 products were registered in 2014, an increase of 12.7 per cent over the previous year. Just as in the previous years, 2012 and 2013, packaged water, drugs and food recorded the highest number of products registered with 3,373, 3,325 and 2,524 respectively.
“In 2013, the total number of registered food products by NAFDAC had increased to a total of 921, from the previous year in 2012, which was 668. Similarly, in 2014, the total number of registered food products had increased to 1,068. In 2012, the total number of registered local food products stood at 1,162. By the following year, it had increased to a total of 1,323, representing an additional increase of 162 registered local products. In 2014, the number had further increased, bringing the total to 1,456. Hence, the total number of registered food products, both imported and local was 1,830 in 2012 and 2,244 in 2013. By 2014, the total had increased to 2,524,” the report said.
Also, the total number of registered drugs imported was 2,082. In 2013, the figure had increased to a total of 2,336. By 2014, the total number had further increased to 2,768 depicting an increase in the number of drugs imported into the country from the previous two years. Similarly, the total number of registered local drugs by NAFDAC stood at a total of 523 in the year 2012. By the year 2013, the total number had increased to 570.
However, by 2014, the total number had decreased to 557. This might be attributed to the challenges faced by local producers such as increased cost of production with regards to energy or costs associated with logistics. The total of both locally produced and imported drugs registered by NAFDAC hence was 2,605 in 2012 and 2,906 in 2013. By 2014, the total number of both categories stood at 3,325.
