From Douglas Blessing, Port Harcourt
The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Professor Mojisola Adeyeye has stated that the menace of drug hawking poses serious challenge to Healthcare Delivery System in the country.
Adeyeye who made this observation on Thursday, in her address at a South-South media sensitization workshop on dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide, organised for Association of Nigeria Health Journalists in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state, said NAFDAC is determined to totally eradicate the illicit trade of drugs in the country.
Represented by Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, NAFDAC, Dr Leonard Omokpariola, Adeyeye advised Nigerians not to buy dangerous non-retailed packed items from the market to prevent the risk of taking contaminated, substandard, expired and adulterated food or food fraud with grave health implications.
She said: “Many Drug Hawkers are knowingly or unknowingly merchants of death who expose essential and Life Saving Medicines to the vagaries of inclement weather which degrade the active ingredients of the medicine and turn them to poisons thus endangering human lives.
“Most of the drugs sold by the illiterate and semi-literate Drug Hawkers are counterfeit, substandard or expired, and therefore do not meet the quality, safety and efficacy requirement of regulated medicines”.
Speaking further on dangers of ripening of fruits with calcium carbide, Adeyeye revealed that NAFDAC has commissioned a scientific study on the best approach towards mitigating the health hazards posed by ripening of fruits with carbides.
She said “I have mandated some of my directors and support staff to take these campaigns to the nooks and crannies of this country. We are confident of winning the war against these two hydra-headed public health menaces”.
The NAFDAC boss however, thanked the media for collaborating with the agency to rid the country of the menace of substandard and falsified medicines, unwholesome foods, corrosive cosmetics, and other substandard regulated products.
On his part, Omokpariola during an interview with journalists at the event said NAFDAC will collaborate with members and officials of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to fight against the menace of drug hawking across the country.
Omokpariola stressed that drug hawking has endangered so many lives, especially Nigerians who we have ignorantly patronised the uncertified drugs while going through short cut to healing of their ill health.
He said NAFDAC has declared war against hawking of drugs in the public to endanger lives of citizens, adding that Nigeria has a policy on drug distribution in place that was launched by the federal Ministry of Health, and with that very policy in place, anyone caught hawking drugs will be prosecuted. He reinstated that the agency has ban hawking of drugs in the country.
He said “Exposing drugs to the vigorous atmosphere such as very high temperature, very high humidity that could lead to the destruction of the active of the pharmaceutical ingredients is evil. This includes selling of drugs in a particular market.
“We frown at people hawking drugs in vehicle because is an aberration. If we take those drugs they are no long medicine, they are actually poison because active pharmaceutical ingredients are not there. We want complete ban on drug hawking and is very wrong to patronise such.
“We are not putting any other administrative penalty on this. Anyone that is caught hawking drugs will be prosecuted, because it is totally illegal. Nigeria has a policy on drug distribution in place that was launched by the federal Ministry of Health, and with that very policy in place, then it is illegal for anybody anywhere, any type of drug.
“We are calling on Nigeria that nobody should patronise the drug hawkers, because patronising them whether it is in the village or in the city, you are actually patronising somebody that is selling poison and is going to kill.
“We are trying to bring in members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) , especially those of them in the rural areas to collaborate to fight against drug hawking. NAFDAC bring the Corps, train them and they will join us to do work we are doing”.
In his remarks, the President, Association of Nigeria Health Journalists, Mr Hassan Zaggi lauded NAFDAC for the engagement, assuring that the Journalist participants will ensure the information reach every parts of the society for the safety of the All Nigerians.
