Insights / Health tech

Reporting side effects and fake medicines from your phone: NAFDAC’s Med Safety app

By Ava Healthcare26 October 20265 min read

Every medicine sold in Nigeria is approved on the evidence available at the time. What happens once it reaches thousands of patients is only known if someone reports it. That is the job of pharmacovigilance, and in Nigeria the simplest tool for it now sits on a smartphone: NAFDAC's Med Safety app.

For pharmacies, hospitals, distributors and pharma field teams, using it well is part of professional practice. Here is what it does and how to build it into the working week.

What the Med Safety app is

Med Safety is a smartphone app for reporting suspected adverse drug reactions to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). It was launched in Nigeria in November 2020 and was promoted widely during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, when NAFDAC encouraged health workers and the public to report side effects through it.

In June 2026 NAFDAC released an upgraded version, as reported by Brand Spur. According to that report, the new version:

• lets users report suspected substandard or falsified medicines, such as packs with altered expiry dates or questionable packaging, as well as side effects;
• has a simpler reporting screen;
• lets users upload photos and detailed descriptions of a suspect product to support an investigation;
• gives better feedback, so people who report hear back about their case.

NAFDAC officials have urged the public not to keep quiet about bad reactions, explaining that reports are monitored and can lead to an investigation and, where a product is found to be unsafe, its withdrawal.

Why reports from professionals matter most

A report is only as useful as its detail. Pharmacists, nurses, doctors and trained sales staff are best placed to record the details an investigator needs: the product name and strength, the batch number and expiry date, where it was bought, what happened and when, and what else the patient was taking. A photo of the pack, the label and the batch number can save days of follow-up.

Professionals also see patterns. A cluster of complaints about one batch, a pack that looks slightly different from usual, or a supplier offering prices that seem too good to be true are early signals that are easy to miss if nobody writes them down.

The older tool: scratch-and-text codes

Some medicine packs in Nigeria carry a scratch panel with a one-time code. This is NAFDAC's Mobile Authentication Service (MAS), introduced in 2010 and extended in 2012 to anti-malarials and antibiotics. The consumer texts the code to a short code and receives a reply saying whether the product is genuine. Where a pack has a MAS panel, it is a quick extra check at the counter. A failed or suspicious check is exactly the kind of thing to report through Med Safety.

Building reporting into your routine

• Install it on the right phones. The pharmacy's main phone, the ward or dispensary phone, and the phones of supervisors and field staff.
• Name a pharmacovigilance lead. One person in each pharmacy, ward or sales team who checks that suspected reactions and suspect products are reported, and who keeps a simple log.
• Capture details at the counter. Train staff to note the batch and expiry, and to keep the pack or take photos, before the customer leaves.
• Tell the manufacturer or supplier too. Marketing authorisation holders have their own safety obligations, and a report to them alongside NAFDAC helps both sides act faster.
• Protect patient privacy. Share only what the report needs. Health information is sensitive personal data under the Nigeria Data Protection Act.
• Include it in field visits. Pharma reps who hear about a side effect during a visit should know their company's process and pass it on the same day.

This is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. Follow NAFDAC's current guidance and your own company's pharmacovigilance procedures.

A small habit with a big effect

Most people who notice a problem with a medicine never report it. Each report from a pharmacy, ward or field team adds to the evidence NAFDAC uses to keep unsafe and fake products off the market. Making the Med Safety app part of everyday practice costs a few minutes and protects patients, customers and the reputation of every honest supplier.

Sources: NAFDAC statements on reporting adverse drug reactions via the Med Safety app, as reported by Gazette Nigeria and TheCable (2020 launch); Brand Spur report on NAFDAC's upgraded Med Safety app (June 2026); reports on NAFDAC's Mobile Authentication Service by Outsourcing-Pharma (2010) and SafeMedicines.

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