The National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sensitised the mass media for onward information dissemination to the grassroots on dangers and health risks associated with the use of bleaching creams.
The agency noted that there was a need to collaborate with the media to achieve desired results in its campaign against bleaching creams.
Speaking at the flag-off of a one-day Southwest Zonal media sensitization workshop held in Ibadan, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye explained what her agency has done and still going across the country to curb the circulation and distribution of illicit and unapproved products in the market.
She said competent hands of the agency have been assigned to carry out the media training exercise, saying it became imperative to warn that some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation, allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin aging and prolonged healing of wounds.
According to her, the World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) study revealed the use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77 percent of Nigerian women, which was the highest in Africa compared to 59 percent in Togo, 35 percent in South Africa and 27 percent in Senegal.
She advised that people especially, those in the habit of bleaching their skins must fully appreciate their natural complexions and be very mindful of using substances and creams that may cause irreversible damage to their bodies.
Adeyeye said: “It is my pleasure to be here again in this historic city of Ibadan for the flag-off of the South-West Zonal Media Sensitization Workshop on the Dangers of Bleaching Creams.”
“Last year, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha acting on the resolutions of the Senate wrote to NAFDAC stressing the need to take stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of rampant and pervasive cases of Nigerians using bleaching creams.”
“We immediately took some decisive steps such as sensitization of the public through different media outlets, enforcement through intelligence and raids in trade fair complexes that have resulted in large seizures and destruction of violative products.”
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“One of such sensitization actions was the flag-off of Media Sensitization Workshops organized for Journalists in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.”
“Today’s sensitization workshop is, therefore, a fulfillment of my promise to cascade it to the six geo-political zones in the country as a deliberate strategy of mobilizing, educating, sensitizing, and challenging Nigerian Health Journalists to play frontline role in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needless waste of scarce resources in Nigeria.”
“This sensitization workshop is a training the Trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants will assume role of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against use of bleaching creams.”