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Tag: codeine

  • Kano declares war against codeine, raids 20 suspected locations

    Kano state Pharmacist Inspection Committee, under the Ministry of Health, has commenced retrieval of all codeine containing preparations from pharmaceutical outlets and individuals in the state.
    This is part of efforts to sanitize the state against any syrups or tablets containing codeine as directed by the federal government.
    The Chairman of the committee who is also the Director Pharmaceutical Services in the Ministry of health, Abdu Umar Madaki said the committee visited about twenty premises in the state in order to retrieve such products and some preparations have been retrieved with proper documentation.
    The chairman enjoined all pharmacies and individuals in possession of any codeine containing preparations, as a matter of urgency, to contact the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria,  Kano office to collect the recall form to assist in mopping up codeine circulation in the state.
    Meanwhile, the state government has assured that it would step up collaboration  with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, NAFDAC, NDLEA and other stakeholders in the state towards tackling the menace of illegal drug sale and abuse.
    In the past few months, substantial amount of illegal and expired drugs were confiscated even as the government is pursuing the prosecution of the arrested culprits.
    The government urged well meaning people to support the government in its anti drug war by giving useful drug related information to the relevant authorities.

  • Codeine: Reps propose N2m fine, 2-year jail term for offenders

    An amendment bill that passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday has proposed a N2 million fine and a 2-year jail term for offenders of the ban on Tramadol and Codeine

    The bill which seeks to amend the Food, Drugs and Related Products ( Registration, etc) Act Cap. F33 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to review the penalties and confer jurisdiction on High Court of the State to try offences under the Act, was sponsored by Hon. Betty Apiafi ( PDP Rivers) and passed second reading yesterday.

    The principal act regulates the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, sale or distribution of processed food, drug and related products and their registration.

    In the lead debate on the bill, Apiafi said: ” In Nigeria, between January and December 2015, Ibe thousand and forty-four (1044) patients were admitted for treatment in the 11 treatment centers currently part of e Nigeria Epidemiological Network of Drug Use ( NENDU) reporting system.

    “28.3 percent of the patients had an opiate addiction and the opiates were mainly prescription Medicines: Tramadol (71 percent as 1st most frequently used substance and specified), Codeine (15.1 percent) and Pentazocine (9.9 percent), Heroine and Morphine represented only 3.3 percent of t opiates declared,” she said.

    Read Also: Sweet, sweet codeine

    She added that since 2015, Codeine has nearly overtaken Tramadol as the most abused opiate in Nigeria. “Thousands of young people in Nigeria are addicted to Codeine cough syrup- a medicine that has become a street drug. Three million bottles are are drunk everyday in Nigeria’s North alone, according to a recent Nigerian government report..”

    She also noted that the World Health Organisation, WHO estimated in 2011, that 64 percent of antimalarial drugs in the country were found to be counterfeit.

    ” it is assessed that counterfeit drugs provided approximately $75 billion in revenue annually to illegal operators and have caused more than 150,000 deaths worldwide,” Apiafi said, adding that ” we legislators must also do our part in this war against commercialisation of illegal unregistered food and drugs.”

    Sections 6,7,9 and 13 of the Principal Act were amended in the new bill which the lawmaker said was birthed 25 years ago and had never seen any amendment or reform till date.

    The new bill stipulates penalties for individuals up to the tune of N500,000 or a prison term of 2 years or both; and in the case of a corporate body, all the directors, managers. Partners, trustees etc would be guilty of an offence and would be punished as it they had committed the offence themselves.

    The bill was referred to the House committee on Healthcare Services for further legislative input after it was passed by majority of members on the floor.

  • Tramadol, Codeine:  Reps propose N2m fine, two years jail-term for offenders

    An amendment bill that passed in the House of Representatives Tuesday has proposed a N2 million fine and a 2-year jail term for offenders of the ban on Tramadol and Codeine

    The bill which seeks to amend the Food, Drugs and Related Products (Registration, etc) Act Cap. F33 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to review the penalties and confer jurisdiction on High Court of the State to try offences under the Act, was sponsored by Hon. Betty Apiafi (PDP Rivers) and passed second reading Tuesday.

    The principal act regulates the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, sale or distribution of processed food, drug and related products and their registration.

    In the lead debate on the bill, Apiafi said: “In Nigeria, between January and December 2015, Ibe thousand and forty-four (1044) patients were admitted for treatment in the 11 treatment centers currently part of e Nigeria Epidemiological Network  of Drug Use ( NENDU)  reporting system.

    Read Also:Codeine ban: NDLEA arrests 17 suspects

    “28.3 percent of the patients had an opiate addiction and the opiates were mainly prescription Medicines: Tramadol (71 percent as 1st most frequently used substance and specified), Codeine (15.1 percent) and Pentazocine (9.9 percent), Heroine and Morphine represented only 3.3 percent of t opiates declared,” she said.

    She added that since 2015, Codeine has nearly overtaken Tramadol as the most abused opiate in Nigeria. “Thousands of young people in Nigeria are addicted to Codeine cough syrup- a medicine that has become a street drug. Three million bottles are drunk everyday in Nigeria’s North alone, according to a recent Nigerian government report.”

    She also noted that the World Health Organisation, WHO estimated in 2011, that 64 percent of antimalarial drugs in the country were found to be counterfeit.

    “it is assessed that counterfeit drugs provided approximately $75 billion  in revenue annually to illegal operators and have caused more than 150,000 deaths worldwide,” Apiafi said, adding that ” we legislators must also do our part in this war against commercialisation of illegal unregistered food and drugs.”

    Sections 6, 7, 9 and 13 of the Principal Act were amended in the new bill which the lawmaker said was birthed 25 years ago and had never seen any amendment or reform till date.

    The new bill stipulates penalties for individuals up to the tune of N500, 000 or a prison term of 2 years or both; and in the case of a corporate body, all the directors, managers. Partners, trustees etc would be guilty of an offence and would be punished as it they had committed the offence themselves.

    The bill was referred to the House committee on Healthcare Services after it was passed by majority of members in the floor.

  • Codeine: NAFDAC reopens firms indicted in syrup distribution

    • Asks Emzor to declare indicted sales rep wanted

    The National Agency for Food, and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday lifted the shutdown order on three pharmaceutical companies closed on May 7 for production of codeine cough syrups.

    The affected firms are: Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd Lagos; Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited in Ilorin, Kwara State.

    NAFDAC’s Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement, gave the directive following meetings with the companies and its directorates of Investigation and Enforcement (I&E), Drug Evaluation Research (DER) and Narcotics and Controlled Substances (NCS).

    She also stated the affected companies have been charged administrative fees “commensurate with the respective violations.”

    The agency also ordered immediate stoppage of codeine syrups until further notice while investigations continue.

    “Therefore, the hold placed on the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the already made codeine syrups stands. NAFDAC will monitor the compliance.

    “All codeine products are to be recalled and the process verified through audit trail verified by NAFDAC

    “Embargo has been placed on new applications for permit or renewals for the importation of codeine as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations- NAFDAC will not issue any permit until further notice.”

    NAFDAC said it would hold a stakeholders meeting on the codeine crisis in a few days to develop a road map for the supply chain distribution and the future of codeine syrup manufacturing.

    The agency also noted that the stakeholders meeting was in line with the Minister of Health pronouncements in his press release on the codeine crisis.

    NAFDAC also directed Emzor pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd to arrest the sales representative indicted in the BBC documentary or declare him wanted for investigation.

     

  • CODEINE SYRUP CRISIS: NAFDAC orders reopening of shut companies

    The shutdown order on three companies involved in the codeine documentary by BBC Africa Eye has been lifted and the normal company operations can resume.
    According to the Director General of  National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, the companies have however  been given the following sanctions:
    *All production of codeine syrup should be stopped immediately until further notice. Therefore, the HOLD placed on the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the already made codeine syrups stands. NAFDAC will monitor the compliance.
    *All codeine products are to be recalled and the process verified through audit trail verified by NAFDAC
    The DG added that as earlier directed, an embargo has been placed on new applications for permit or renewals for the importation of codeine as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations.
    The companies have been charged with administrative fees that are commensurate with the respective violations.
    NAFDAC will hold a stakeholders meeting on the codeine crisis soon to develop a road map for the supply chain distribution and the future of codeine syrup manufacturing, in line with the Minister of Health pronouncements in his press release on the codeine crisis.
    The lifting followed a meeting convened by National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, with its DG and representatives having had a high-powered meeting with the executives of the companies that were implicated in the codeine syrup distribution on Thursday, May 10, 2018 in Lagos.
    NAFDAC had separate meetings with the companies – Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited in Ilorin, Kwara State, and Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd, Lagos – to further the investigation into the codeine manufacture and distribution with possibility of lifting the shutdown of the companies.
    The Director General, Prof Adeyeye gave the directive for the meetings to be held with the companies.
    The following NAFDAC directorates – Investigation and Enforcement (I&E), Drug Evaluation Research (DER) and Narcotics and Controlled Substances (NCS) led the meeting.
    The findings of the investigations, and violations committed by the companies (based on the first inspections conducted on May 3, and BBC documentary), are stated below:
    *Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited: Mr. Samuel Akinlaja, the Managing Director led his team to the meeting.  The company was cited for poor distribution practice and misplaced role play of staff.
    *NAFDAC made the following observations.
    The Superintendent Pharmacist assumed a function that was not part of his Job schedule by attending to an intending customer.
    Good Distribution Practice (GDP) was not strictly implemented by the company.
    The company has been warned to ensure strict compliance with all written standard operating procedures (SOP).
    From the outcome of the inspection, the company’s documentation process was adequate as the records from the raw materials store, in process and finished products were properly reconciled.
    Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited: Mr. Rahamon J. Bioku, the Managing Director led his team at the meeting with NAFDAC.  Based on the documentary and discussions, the company violated GDP by not monitoring the accredited distributors, a worker colluded with a sacked staff to illegally distribute codeine syrup that was allegedly stolen from the company. The company was also cited for bad storage practice or poor good manufacturing practice
    Based on the above violations, NAFDAC has forwarded the following directives to BIORAJ.
    The company should develop and implement Good Manufacturing Practices including Good Storage Practice.
    The company should ensure the enrollment of competent and qualified personnel for respective positions.
    The company should develop access control into their premises.
    The company should develop a system to monitor distributor’s activities.
    The company is being warned to ensure strict compliance with all written SOPs.
    The company should immediately initiate a recall process of the finished products.
    Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd: Dr. Stella Okoli, General Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer led her team to the meeting. Based on NAFDAC’s inspection of the company’s Ajao Estate facility where only syrups are made, and the BBC documentary, Emzor Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd. company was cited with the following violations:
    Inadequate enforcement that led to the accused sales representative shown on the documentary to abscond
    Obstruction and concealment of facts when the NAFDAC team visited the company premises.
    Poor GMP that includes poor document retrieval system and un-reconciled record system in the utilization of codeine sulfate
    Inconsistencies in the shipping documents of finished products
    Lack system in of monitoring of the accredited distributors
     At the meeting, the company brought some of the documents such as shipping documents and list of accredited distributors that were not provided during the inspection.  The company was asked to provide the staff that absconded. The GMD/CEO accepted responsibility for the cited violations.
    The following directives have been forwarded to Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd.
    The Agency should arrest, if need be declare as wanted, and investigate the Sales Representative indicted in the BBC documentary to ascertain his level of culpability in the illegal distribution of Codeine cough syrup. The company should furnish the Agency with all relevant information about him.
    The Chief Security Officer of the company should be invited for interrogation.
    The company’s GMP should be improved and verifiable
    There is a need to reconcile the list of the company’s accredited distributors with the names on the stock card in in order to ensure GDP
    The company should be made to develop a system to monitor distributor’s activities.
    The three companies cooperated with NAFDAC during the meeting, provided the needed documents, some of which are being verified.

  • Katsina Govt. lauds FG over ban on codeine

    Katsina State Government has commended the Federal Government for its recent ban on the local production and importation of codeine as a addictive cough syrup.

    Gov. Aminu Masari made the commendation on Thursday in Daura during a one-day zonal roundtable workshop on the phenomenon of drug abuse in the state.

    Masari was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa.

    He described drug abuse as one of the illicit practices engaged by the youth which ruined their future and send them to the early graves or subject them to mental retardation.

    “ We need to put all hands on deck to curtail the menace,’’ he said.

    He disclosed that the state government had trained and empowered 1,000 youths on various skills.

    They include: ICT; poultry and fish production; vegetable oil extraction and tailoring, adding, “ we would recruit 5,000 youth as teachers under the newly-introduced S Power programme.

    The governor called on lawmakers, traditional and religious leaders, parents and wealthy individuals, among other stakeholders, to partner with the state government in curtailing drug abuse, stressing that youth are the leaders of tomorrow.

    He described the partnership between the Peace Builders Security Concepts, organisers of the workshop, and the state government in curbing the instances of youth restiveness and drug abuse, as appropriate.

    “The Peace Builders Security Concepts remains a good partner for the initiative,’’ he said.

    Read Also: Codeine ban: NDLEA arrests 17 suspects

    The Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Farouk, represented by the Turakin Daura, Alhaji Musa Abdurrahaman, lauded the state government for partnering with the NGO in the fight against drug abuse.

    He described the workshop as timely, and assured of the unconditional support of the traditional and religious leaders in his domain toward the success of the initiative.

    Malam Ibrahim Katsina, the Executive Director of the Peace Builders Security Concepts, called on the youth to shun practices that would destroy their future.

    Katsina also called for the cooperation of the youth and parents in detecting and arresting drug dealers, consumers and the barons.

    He said the NGO was collaborating with the NDLEA and other security agencies in checking drug abuse.

    Zainab Salisu, a participant, said the workshop was timely, as according to her, drug abuse and addiction had generated different diseases in the addicts.

    She said most cases of house burglary, rape and other criminal activities were usually committed under drug influence.

    NAN

  • Codeine: NAFDAC shuts Emzor, two Ilorin firms

    THREE pharmaceutical firms including Emzor have been shut by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC) for failimg to cooperate with the agency in the investigation into the Codeine syrup crisis.

    The others are Ilorin-based Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited.

    All the firms were implicatyed in the codeine syrup crisis and NAFDAC said the decision to shut them down was taken following findings from investigations and inspections at the companies.

    A statement by NAFDAC DG Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said “Due to insufficient evidence gathered and apparent resistance to provide needed documents during our inspection on May 2, 2018 at the respective companies in Ilorin and Lagos, it has become necessary to shut down all product lines of the three companies – Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited. Plots 3 & 8, Adewole Industrial Estate, Lubcon Avenue, Ilorin, Kwara State; Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited. No 405 Kaima Road, Ilorin, Kwara State and Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd., Ajao Estate, Lagos. This is to allow for a full and comprehensive investigation.

    “The reopening of the manufacturing companies will depend on the level of cooperation that is shown during the comprehensive investigation. The Director General has constituted a Task Force made up of NAFDAC Directors- Registration and Regulatory Affairs; Narcotics and Controlled Substances; and Drug Evaluation and Research. Members of PMG-MAN in the Committee included the Executive Secretary of PMG-MAN, Fidson Healthcare; May & Baker PLC; and Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries. It was stated that on May 2-3, 2018 “A team of nine NAFDAC officers (2 from Drug and Evaluation Research – DER and 7 from Investigation & Enforcement – I&E) and ten mobile police officers were sent to Ilorin, Kwara state on May 2 2018 to carry out investigational inspection at the companies of the two different pharmaceutical companies that are licensed to manufacture codeine-containing syrup, and which were implicated in the BBC documentary.

    “The same investigational inspection by a different NAFDAC team took place on the same day and time as the Ilorin companies at the manufacturing facility of Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd., Ajao Estate, Lagos “The focus of the assignment was to access and monitor from records the utilization, sales and effective distribution of the codeine containing cough syrups to the end users. “Meanwhile, meeting of the stakeholders mentioned above is being planned while the shut down and full investigation”

  • 30,000 bottles of Codeine consumed daily in Niger State – Research

    Just as the federal government have placed a ban on the use of codeine, research have revealed that about 30,000 bottles of codeine made of cough syrup are consumed daily in Niger state.

    The research carried out by the Development Initiative of West Africa (DIWA) also revealed that about three million in Nigeria consume this product in order to make themselves high.

    This revelation was made during DIWA quarterly awareness program tagged #Ban Codeine in Naija in Minna, Niger state.

    According to the Niger State DIWA chief Executive Officer, Mallam Musa Mohammed El-Sani, the cough syrup is mostly consumed by the Youth and women lamenting that the society is confronted with a painful antecedent of people consuming codeine to attain a certain high psychological and emotional status that is negative to the brain and body.

    El-Sani noted that codeine had contributed to the high rise in crime, kidnapping, raping, terrorism and killings in the country.

    DIWA want the federal government to focus on the black market where sale of the dangerous product may still be threiving despite its ban calling for intense monitoring to checkmate the pharmaceutical companies and chain distributors in order to arrest the situation.

  • Ban on codeine: Lagos unveils strategy to address mental health

    The Lagos State Government on Friday, revealed comprehensive plans to address drug abuse under the mental health policy of the state, adding that a law to that effect has been updated.

    The Federal Government had on Tuesday directed the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to stop further issuance of permits for the importation of Codeine as active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations, to curtail its abuse in the country.

    Speaking at the annual Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration, held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, said the state government had been engaging with key stakeholders to address mental health issues and affiliated matters, before the ban was announced.

    “I must tell you that the Drug Control Unit in the Ministry is very active. We are also operating in conjunction with NAFDAC. The ban principally is a NAFDAC initiative but as a State Government we did not wait; we are more proactive and ever since this issue came into light, the Ministry has been engaging and very soon, we will come out with a more comprehensive programme.

    “This is because we will not look at Codeine alone. We are going to look at it under drug abuse. Codeine is just one substance out of many that are being abused.

    “In line with this, we have updated our own mental health law as against what is happening at the federal level; we have a mental health policy and we are currently now implementing our mental health programme to cover all tiers – primary, secondary and tertiary health care systems. This is a comprehensive thing and there is no doubt about the fact that there is a major mental health problem in our country and this Codeine is just a tip of the iceberg,” the Commissioner said.

    Idris enthused that the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) successfully performed its first open-heart surgery on a 32-year-old patient, solely by an indigenous cardiac surgery team, as well as its fourth successful cochlear implant and kidney transplant surgeries.

  • Sweet, sweet codeine

    SIR: Some hours after the release of a fifty-two minutes’ documentary on cough syrup with codeine by the BBC (African eye) titled ‘sweet sweet codeine’ and how it has destroyed the lives of  Nigerian youth, the federal government swung into action in a commando-style and placed an embargo on the importation of the drug. The minister of health, Isaac Adewole said in a statement-that ‘permit’ should not be granted to any pharmaceutical company in Nigeria to import codeine as an ‘active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparation.’

    The question on the lips of Nigerians, however, is: why did it take so long for the federal government to ban the sale of the drug despite numerous reports by local media on the dangers of the drug? In fact, sometime last year, a senator from Borno, Bashir Garba raised a motion on the floor of the Senate demanding the upper chamber to investigate the massive influx of codeine into the country and the danger it possesses to the wellbeing of the Nigerian populace.

    The senate promised to investigate the menace. It was a long silence after then and not until the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted about 2,400 bottles of cough syrup with codeine in Katsina state. I knew of the abuse of the substance but I am unaware that it has gotten to that extent. Yet, after the Katsina story, the federal government did not deem it necessary to act.

    Apparently, it needed the prompting of the BBC documentary. The senators, who have been loudly silent for months after Sen. Garba’s motion now decided to also direct its committee on drugs and Narcotics  to ensure the full compliance with the ban on the use of codeine in cough syrup. I really don’t know why we allow a problem to fester for long before we swing into action in this country.

    Well, better late than never, it is said.  Frightfully, I hope this decision isn’t coming too late though. The damage it has done is too outrageous to be ignored. Some facts from the BBC documentary reveals that about 3million bottles are consumed everyday. Of course, the statistics is staggering  and should not be taken lightly. The documentary shows a poorly equipped rehabilitation centre in Kano where people, mostly young girls and boys are chained like dogs or slaves to prevent them from being violent.

    Another fact that got me really depressed is the words of one of the distributors of the drug who claimed that if he has one million cartons of cough syrup with codeine, he would sell it within one week. The fact that he also said a buyer could drop his car key if he has no money shows the extent of people’s addiction to the dangerous drug. The said distributor has been reportedly sacked.

    Cough syrup containing codeine is not normally taken alone by the abusers. Abusers and addicts usually mix it with soft drink and sometimes alcohol. I heard that mixing codeine with another drink is the best way to enjoy its intake. Really?

    To them, it is a way to boost energy or fight depression. They are possibly unaware of the impending dangers. Or let say, they are quite aware but too addicted to stop it. Perhaps, they are also unaware that ‘sweet sweet’ codeine leads to sweet death, slow death. Research has shown that mixing opioid drugs with alcohol is not only dangerous but also depresses the central nervous system. If not quickly taken care of, it reduces the rate of breathing and ultimately leads to death. I wish they know.

    It is not yet time to weep. Maybe, we are yet to see the resulting general effects of the codeine abuse. But, the signs are there for us already.  Hardly would you go to any street in the north today without seeing young boys and girls, looking white as a sheet, gathered in group passionately discussing ways to get money to buy the drug.  The social-ill is not limited to the northern region; of course, the southern youths are also chronic abusers and addicts of codeine syrup.

    They are in every corner and street. Gradually, these drug abusers would turn robbers who knockdown our doors and windows and come to disturb us at night. They would turn kidnappers who disturb us at highways. They would turn rapists that waylay on street corners and rape our daughters. And even more dangerously, they would turn terrorists we might never defeat. They are loose cannons, and could cause significant and unexpected havoc. We should sing to their ears that just like the weed of crime bears bitter fruit, so also the weed of such negative behaviour.

    I am extremely perturbed by this social menace and I hope more stringent measures would be enacted by the appropriate agencies in curbing the overly dangerous social ill. The National Orientation agency should also step up its game.

    Most of our youths are not in the best state of health. Proper channels should be used to campaign against the use of the drugs. ‘Sweet Sweet’ codeine does not give sweet life; it rather oxymoronically, leads to sweet death.

     

    • Omolaoye Sodiq,

    Abuja.