Stakeholders in the health sector on Thursday inaugurated a platform known as Com-Watch to address inadequate antibiotic stock and the circulation of substandard medicines.
It was reported that the Community Access to Effective Antibiotics (Com-WATCH) solution is an integrated, data-driven technology designed to control stock in real time and detect substandard and falsified (SF) antibiotics.
The platform empowers communities, vendors and other stakeholders to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja, the Country Director of Jhpiego, Dr. Adetiloye Oniyire, said the project is being implemented in collaboration with key partners.
Oniyire said these include eHealth Africa and health regulatory agencies such as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
According to him, Com-Watch is necessary because while investments in healthcare infrastructure and workforce development are important, they cannot deliver the desired results if patients receive substandard or falsified medicines.
“You can build strong health systems and have excellent infrastructure, but when the medicine given to patients is defective, the job is practically zero because the patient will not get well,” he said.
He described antimicrobial resistance as a global health challenge that requires urgent and coordinated action.
According to him, the Com-Watch initiative aims to raise awareness and bridge long-standing gaps in community-level monitoring of antibiotics.
Oniyire commended Trinity Challenge for funding the initiative, adding that it is significant in strengthening surveillance against substandard medicines.
Explaining the platform, the Project Director of COM-WATCH, Yemisi Ogundare, said the application would help communities verify the safety of antibiotics and monitor drug stocks in real time.
“The mobile application allows community members to check the authenticity of antibiotics before using them.
“The aim is to get communities to tell us how they are accessing antibiotics and what antibiotics they are using. We developed an application called COM-WATCH.
“The tool allows the mother in the village, the agro-vet farmer and others to confirm whether the antibiotics they have are safe before use,” she said.
Ogundare said the system could send alerts when drugs were close to expiry and notify users about possible quality concerns.
She added that the application is currently available on Android devices, while rural users can also access it offline through USSD, among other channels.
“When you upload a picture of a drug on the app, it checks it against the NAFDAC Greenbook and confirms whether the medicine is verified or not.
“This will help agencies such as NAFDAC and the NCDC to take informed regulatory actions,” she said.
In his remarks, Dr. David Akpan, Deputy Director of Partnerships and Programmes at eHealth Africa, said the project was designed as a digital response to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
“We worked together with Jhpiego to design a technology solution funded by the Trinity Challenge, and the solution is COM-WATCH.
“The platform will enable community pharmacies, patent medicine vendors and agro-vet stores to manage their antibiotic stock while also verifying the authenticity of the medicines.”
Akpan added that every antibiotic scanned through the system would be verified using data from the NAFDAC Greenbook.
He said the solution would also provide regulators with critical data to guide policy decisions on antibiotic use in Nigeria.
Also speaking, Dr. Olajide Idris, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), explained that antimicrobial resistance threatens the effectiveness of antibiotics.
According to Idris, it also makes common infections harder to treat and increases the risks associated with routine medical procedures.
Idris, who was represented by Dr. John Okoh, a medical expert, warned that antibiotic misuse, poor medicine quality and limited surveillance in community settings continue to drive the spread of resistant infections.
He added that preventing infections remains the most effective strategy for slowing antimicrobial resistance, emphasizing the importance of vaccination, hygiene practices, safe water and sanitation, and responsible antibiotic use.
According to him, combating antimicrobial resistance requires collective action from healthcare workers, patients, policymakers, farmers, regulators and communities.
“As we launch the Com-Watch platform today, I encourage all stakeholders to actively engage with this innovation to strengthen surveillance, improve access to quality medicines and reduce the drivers of antimicrobial resistance in Nigeria,” he said.
