Abuja, February 23 (RHC) -– The governments of Cuba and Nigeria have entered into partnership, using biotechnology to eradicate malaria in the African country.

The news was announced in Abuja when Cuban Ambassador Carlose Trejo Sosa paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii.

The Cuban government has also invited a delegation from NAFDAC that will be led by the director general to pay a visit to Cuba in order to cement the relationship in various aspects of medicines.

Responding to questions from journalists, the Cuban Ambassador said: “Because NAFDAC is one of the important agencies in Nigeria which cares for the wellbeing for the Nigerian population, any type of medicine that will be used in this country have to be approved by NAFDAC.

“Cuba, being a country that is rich in biotechnology which could be used also for the Nigerian population, of course, we have to come through NAFDAC where we have people that are capable with experience and expertise who will look at the technology and see whether it is good for Nigeria or not.”

For his part, Dr Paul Orhii said: “Cuba has a very rich cultural heritage and has good ties with Nigeria. But more importantly from a health perspective, Cuba is the global leader in biotechnology, developing new technologies to fight diseases and most of their technologies they are bringing to fight diseases are more natural because they attack the disease in a more natural way.