đź“Ś Host: Paul Adepoju
👤 Guest: Prof. Moji Adeyeye – Director-General of NAFDAC (Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control)
In this episode of Paul Talks Science, I sit down with Prof. Moji Adeyeye to explore her remarkable journey from practicing pharmacist to academic, regulator and advocate, and how she’s helping transform Nigeria’s medicines landscape — especially for children.
We dive into :
Her reflections on the past challenges of paediatric malaria treatments and why “children are not just small adults” in drug development.
The technical, environmental and regulatory hurdles of developing medicines that children will actually accept — and that can survive real-world conditions in low-resource settings.
How NAFDAC is leveraging cutting-edge technology like GS1 track-&-trace and advanced detection devices to fight fake and substandard medicines in Nigeria’s open drug markets.
The trade-offs regulators face between speeding access (as seen during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout) and maintaining trust, safety and thorough review.
Her faith-inspired work supporting children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and the broader intersection of medicine, ethics and public health.
Her vision for Nigeria: “Made in Nigeria, sold all over the world” — with quality, safety and efficacy at its core.
📖 Further reading: I recently wrote a deeper piece for Devex titled “Can Africa’s drug regulators be both fast and trusted?” which draws on this conversation and broader regulatory trends across the continent. Check it out: https://www.devex.com/news/can-africa-s-drug-regulators-be-both-fast-and-trusted-111147
🔔 Don’t forget to like, subscribe and hit the notification bell so you won’t miss future episodes where we bring together science, policy, innovation and human stories.
👇 Share your thoughts in the comments: What was the most surprising insight for you from this conversation? What do you think it will take to build regulatory systems in Africa that are both fast and trusted?