The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has destroyed fake, counterfeit, substandard, expired, and unwholesome regulated products worth approximately N985 million.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made this known during the burning exercise in Kano on Thursday.
Adeyeye, represented by the Director of North-West Zone NAFDAC, Mrs. Josephine Dayilim, said the exercise is aimed at eradicating fake drugs and other spurious NAFDAC-regulated products from circulation in Nigeria.
“Removal of substandard and falsified medicines (SFs) from circulation will make Nigerians healthier.
“And since only a healthy body can contribute positively to the economy, it will make Nigerians wealthier and the economy better,” she added.
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The goods being destroyed, the director general said, were substandard, fake or falsely labeled medicines, unwholesome food products, and other counterfeits seized and voluntarily received by NGOs, trade unions, the Nigeria Customs Service, NAPPMED, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.
Adeyeye said the items destroyed include medicine made up of psychoactive and controlled substances such as antibiotics, antihypertensives, antimalarials, analgesics, and herbal remedies.
Others destroyed are food items such as vegetable oil, non-alcoholic beverages, sachet water, condiments, tomato pastes and creams, pomades, and ointments.
Others are chemicals such as insecticides, pesticides, agrochemical diagnostic kits, infusions, and giving sets, among others.
Adeyeye, therefore, advised relevant stakeholders to adhere to all regulatory measures put in place.
“We solicit the cooperation of the general public, corporate bodies, religious leaders, and traditional rulers in our effort to eradicate the menace of drug and substance abuse.
”Health practitioners, community leaders, the press, and all
Stakeholders are hereby encouraged not to relent in educating their wards and
family members on the dangers of patronizing quacks and hawkers of medicines on the street,” Adeyeye said.
The director general reiterated the agency’s commitment to safeguarding the health of Nigerians and sought the cooperation of Nigerians in achieving the mandate.
The NAFDAC Coordinator in Kano State, Mr. Kasim Idrisa-Ibrahim, said the agency, in its effort to sanitize drug distribution, moved sellers of medicine from the chaotic open market to a coordinated wholesale center (CWC) at Dangwauro Kano.
“The coordinated wholesale center has paved the way for NAFDAC to start recording successes in safeguarding the health of Nigerians,” Idris-Ibrahim said (NAN).