By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna.
The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has alerted Nigerians that fake and adulterated drugs worth over N200 Billion were released by some unscrupulous, shylock manufacturers from oversee countries some of which are likely to find their way into Nigeria.
The agency therefore warned importers particularly pharmaceutical companies and agents to be mindful of what they import into the country.
NAFDAC’s acting Director General who gave the hint, revealed that statistics from the World Health Organization, WHO, showed that the fake drugs worth over N200 Billion were churned out and searching for markets outlets across the globe particularly in developing countries.
The agency disclosed that in the last one year it has intercepted and destroyed adultetarated and counterfeited drugs worth over N2 billion in the country.
The control agency for consumables said at a one day sensitisation/stakeholders’ workshop held in Minna, Niger state that it has remained upbeat in it’s fight against the prevalence of fake and adulterated consumables in the country.
It explained that the counterfeited drugs and other consumables were destroyed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja between last year and November this year.
In effecting it’s mandates, the agency carried out its latest onslaught against unwholesome products in Minna, the Niger state capital where drugs valued at N144 million were on Monday destroyed by the agency’s petsonel led by its Acting Director-General, Mrs. Yetunde Oni.
Represented by the Director, Special Duties of the agency, Alhaji Abubakar Jimoh, the Acting Director General said NAFDAC remains resolute and focused on its mandate to rid the country of all unwholesome consumable products.
The agency disclosed that some of the products destroyed were voluntarily surrendered to it by their owners when they realized that the products were either fake, substandard, unwholesome or had expired and therefore unfit for human consumption.
Mr. Jimoh who was in Minna for a one day stakeholders’ forum, said, “Circulation of fake and counterfeit drugs was an ugly spectre that was hunting down the entire world”.
The agency warned that fake drugs have been found to be largely responsible for the rising cases of diseases associated with liver, kidney and the heart saying in its quest to rid the country of the menace of fake drugs in the country, the agency has continued to record progress in the reduction in the prevalence of fake drugs to 3% in 2014, down from 19 per cent recorded in 2011.
The NAFDAC Zonal Coordinator, North-Central, Mrs. Josephine Dayilim, had earlier said that the destruction of the unwholesome products was to ensure that the products were completely destroyed to justify the confidence of members of the public.
