Drug Authentication System (a Case Study of Nafdac)

Drugs authenticating system is a process or technology used to verify the authenticity and integrity of drugs. this project aimed at developing a drug authentication system for NAFDAC. The proposed system assigns a unique (four-digit code to every anti-malarial and six-digit code to every anti-biotics) genuine and safe drug in accordance to the batch of production. The proposed system cannot confiscate a fake drug instantly but will only advice the prospective customer/consumer that the drug is not genuine and the reporting of such fake/counterfeit drug is at the mercy of the authenticator. The existing system is using a mobile authenticating system (MAS), which uses a pin. It has a pin printed under the silver panel on the drugs that is currently registered under mobile authentication service. All manufacturing firms using this system must get NAFDAC registration number first before using this system on their manufactured product. NAFDAC enables consumers in Nigeria to confirm whether the drug they are about to buy is genuine using a mobile phone. The consumer simply sends an SMS to 38353 to confirm the genuineness of the drug. Every MAS-enabled drug comes with a unique 10- digit number covered by a panel. All the consumer needs to do is to scratch off the panel to reveal the 10-digit number. Then the consumer texts the 10-digit number to 38353 and in a few seconds, they will receive an SMS with OK to confirm the authenticity. This system is a toll-free system which is available on drugs Ampiclox and Lonart but not on all other manufactured products. This project adopts a development that will make ease of drug authentication using NAFDAC as its case study. It captures all requirement of users achieving the goal of verifying drugs among the general user and the staff of NAFDAC.