NAFDAC asks Nigerians to report fake drugs and bad reactions on its apps and hotlines
- NAFDAC is urging Nigerians to report fake medicines and side effects through its apps, email and website.
- The agency says the channels help it find unsafe products faster and investigate complaints.
- It also told businesses to follow its rules before recalling any product from the market.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has asked Nigerians to report suspected fake, substandard and unregistered medicines, as well as bad reactions to medicines, vaccines and medical devices, through its official reporting channels.
The agency said the channels are meant to speed up the detection of unsafe products and allow timely investigations, according to a statement reported by Leadership.
For Nigerians, this matters because fake drugs remain a real danger in a market where many people buy medicines from pharmacies and patent medicine stores without seeing a doctor first.
How to report
NAFDAC said anyone who has an unexpected reaction to a medicine, vaccine or medical device should use the MedSafety app, which is available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Reports can also go to pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng or through the e-reporting platform on the agency's website, nafdac.gov.ng.
To report suspected fake, counterfeit or unapproved medical products, the agency pointed people to its Greenbook app, also on Google Play and the App Store, or to its website.
The agency advised consumers to confirm that a product is registered with NAFDAC before buying or using it. Registration numbers can be checked on the NAFDAC Automated Product Administration and Monitoring System portal.
NAFDAC also reminded businesses and distributors that product recalls must follow its rules. Formal recall notices should be addressed to the Director-General through the Director of Post-Marketing Surveillance.
Such notices must include the product name and registration number, the manufacturer or marketing authorisation holder's details, batch number, expiry date, distribution records, the reason for the recall and a proposed corrective action plan.
The documents can be sent electronically through designated post-marketing surveillance channels or delivered as hard copies to the nearest NAFDAC office.
The agency's call comes as questions continue over how well it is coping with counterfeit medicines. In a separate opinion piece, Independent argued that NAFDAC is not doing enough, citing estimates from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that up to 500,000 people die each year from counterfeit drugs in sub-Saharan Africa.
The piece also said the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has warned that more than 50 per cent of medicines in circulation are fake, far above the official estimate of 13 per cent. Those figures are the group's claims, not NAFDAC's.
The opinion piece credited the agency with nationwide surveillance between May and July 2026 covering all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with 6,233 facilities visited and 7,210 products removed. It said NAFDAC also secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting in that period.
What happens next
Nigerians who suspect a product is fake can check its registration number before use and report it through the Greenbook app or the agency's website. Anyone who reacts badly to a medicine or vaccine can file a report through MedSafety or the pharmacovigilance email.
