NAFDAC pledges relentless fight against fake medical products

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of National Food and Drug Agency Control (NAFDAC), has pledged a relentless fight against falsified medical products.

Adeyeye stated this at a sensitisation programme against drug hawkers on Monday in Osogbo.

Represented by Mr Olagunju Sheriff, the Director of Food Safety in the agency, Adeyeye said that NAFDAC, under her watch, would also continue to fight against unwholesome food, harmful cosmetics, poorly packaged water and other substandard regulated products.

“I want to reassure you that NAFDAC, under my watch, will not leave any stone unturned in our concerted efforts to rid the country of the menace of falsified medical products.

“Also, unwholesome food, harmful cosmetics, poorly packaged water and other substandard regulated products will no longer have a place in our society,” she said.

Adeyeye said that the key objective of the sensitisation programme was to intensify and expand the scope of the agency’s informal and formal behaviour change communication strategies, in order to reach the vulnerable at the grassroots.

“Public awareness campaign is one of the veritable regulatory mechanisms put in place by NAFDAC to promote and protect the health of our people.

“A well informed, sensitised and educated citizenry is the bedrock of effective regulation.

“This is why today’s event is another major milestone in our bid to protect Nigerians against the deleterious effects of unwholesome food, falsified medical products, harmful cosmetics, poor water and other substandard regulated products.

“The advent of Coronavirus pandemic has aggravated the problem with the challenge posed by substandard and falsified Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).

“The Sensitisation campaigns will, therefore, contribute significantly to the Federal Government’s concerted efforts to inform, sensitize, educate and alert the public about inherent dangers of intake and use of those spurious regulated products”, the NAFDAC boss said.

Adeyeye also said that the sensitisation campaign would address the dangers of buying medicines from hawkers, adding that patients should only buy medicines from licensed pharmacies and medicine stores.

She added that this would address the abuse of codeine, self-medication, especially among youths, the dangerous effects of using kerosene tanker to load groundnut oil, among others.

“It is our expectation that at the end of the campaigns, the participants and target audiences will become dependable partners and allies of NAFDAC and be in the forefront of sustaining the public awareness by disseminating the information and messages to the grassroots.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the various communities take ownership of the care and management of their own health,” she said.

Earlier in his remarks, Gov. Adegboyega Oyetola, said his administration would continue to synergise with critical partners for quality health care.

Represented by his Special Adviser on Public Health, Mr Siji Olamiju, the governor appealed to NAFDAC to decentralise the awareness campaigns by taking the message directly to the rural areas for maximum impact.