The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fake drugs

  • Kano destroys N4b fake drugs

    The Kano State Task Force on Illicit Drugs has destroyed counterfeit drugs worth N4 billion, the Commissioner for Commerce, Industries and Mines Farouk Umar Jubrin said yesterday.

    He said in the last two weeks, the task force mopped up illicit drugs worth over N300 million, adding that in the last three years of Governor Rab’iu Kwankwaso’s administration, fake drugs reduced drastically.

    Speaking at the Sixth Annual Symposium and Business Summit organised by  the National Association of Industrial Pharmacists, the commissioner said: “Since we came to power in 2011 till date, we have destroyed fake drugs worth over N4 billion. Kano is the hub of the drug trade, while the Southwest and Southeast are the hub of drug manufacturing. Most of these drugs find their way into Kano illegally and the Kwankwaso administration has declared war on fake drugs.”

    Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Pharmaceutical Affairs Ali Adamu said: “We have shut down the notorious drug market at the Abubakar Rimi Market. We are aware they still exist and operate in small fragments. We will not relax until we eliminate the menace.”

    State Chairman of the National Association of Industrial Pharmacists Bala Maikudi said: “A situation where over 90 per cent of the drugs we consume are imported is unfortunate. We take billions of naira to other countries, creating employment and growing their economies, while ours remains in a shambles.

    “This unfortunate scenario explains why the fight against fake and substandard products (drugs) remains unabated, in spite of numerous regulatory agencies and millions of naira spent on it. All these are by-products of not setting our priorities right and by extension not believing in what we can do as a nation.”

  • NAFDAC laments sale of fake drugs

    NAFDAC laments sale of fake drugs

    The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has expressed worry over the hawking of drugs, and sale of fake and narcotic drugs in Kebbi State.

    The state Director-General of the agency, Mr. Bitrus Fradel, while fielding questions from reporters in Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital, said the development was dangerous.

    Mr. Fradel, who said hawking of drugs was more prevalent in Jega Local Government Area, also revealed that their exposure to harsh weather is also not in the interest of users as such drugs could be ineffective and harmful to health.

    The Director-General who said that the agency was grappling with the sale of fake and narcotic drugs in the state advised members of the public to be careful about what they buy and consume.

    He said drugs like tramol which are sold in almost every chemist’s store and which are used by many youths in the state should be used only when prescribed by a physician.

    “Tramol is supposed to be a prescribed drug but you can see that the youth are fond of using it indiscriminately,” he said.

    Mr. Fradel added that the registered milligram of Tramol as a product is 50mg. He said it is surprising that 200mg of the drug is available at various chemists’ shops and is being sold to and used by people, especially the youth.

    He said: “We have established a NAFDAC office in Kamba which is a border community with the Niger Republic to avoid the importation of fake Tramol and other drugs into Kebbi State.

  • Nigeria, Cameroon sign fact on fake drugs

    Nigeria, Cameroon sign fact on fake drugs

    In a move to check the movement and circulation of fake and substandard drugs in the country, Nigeria Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cameroon.

    The MoU is expected to curb movement of fake drugs within the two countries.

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Cameroon Standard and Quality Agency signed for their respective countries in Abuja.

    In his remark, the Director- General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the counterfeiting of products has been a major problem.

    He admitted that the agency has been having hectic time dealing with counterfeiters because of the sophistication in printing technology and the globalization of the counterfeiting business.

    He said that Nigeria is at the forefront of efforts to ensure that activities of the counterfeiters are brought under check.

    He, however, stressed that this is only achievable with the cooperation of other countries.

    Orhii said, “Counterfeiting of products has been a major problem. The counterfeiters have devised ways because of the sophistication in printing technology and the globalization of the counterfeiting business had become very highly complicated to deal with and one country alone cannot deal with this problem.

    “That is why Nigeria is at the forefront of making sure that we come together to form international coalition to fight the menace of counterfeiting. If we come together as a region, we can form a block that can stop fake drugs from coming to our countries.”

    He also commended the Cameroonian delegation for the initiative.

    He said: “I thank you for extending this hand of partnership that you said you want us to do for the benefit of our countries. Yours is a relatively younger agency, ours had been there but we are still learning. We share borders and a lot of product go from Nigeria to Cameroon and back from Cameroon to Nigeria. Therefore, it makes sense that we have to move together to make sure that these products that go across our borders are safe.”

    The Head of Cameroonian delegation who is also the Director General of Cameroon Standard and Quality Agency, Dr. Charls Booto n’Ngon, said: “The MoU is to enhance cooperation between our country and Nigeria and to reinforce the application of standard and the respect of specification for all products which come to Nigeria from Cameroon and those that come to Cameroon from Nigeria . That is the main objective of our being here.

    “Since Nigeria and Cameroon have been into cooperation for a long time, we want to reinforce the protection of our people. We have come to Abuja to sign a memorandum of understanding with NAFDAC for the benefit of our people. We will also make arrangements with our high commissioner for Dr .Orhii to come to Cameroon so that we can finalise everything to enhance this cooperation.”

  • Access to fake drugs ‘is bane of health care’

    Unrestricted access to drugs, including fake and substandard ones has been identified as major health challenge in the country.

    According to the Director of Medical Service, Adeyemi College of Education, Dr. Emmanuel Ogunmosin, the public’s belief in drugs is so strong that giving healthy advice without drugs is viewed as incompetence on the doctor’s part.

    He spoke at a lecture organised by the institution staff’s Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited (CMS) , Silver Jubilee and Award presentation in Ondo State .

    The topic of the lecture was The Pillars of health.

    He said not many patients are aware that taking different drugs simultaneously is risky and capable of adversely affecting them and causing drugs interacting.

    Ogunmosin advised the people to engage in routine medical checkups, adding that it will ensure diseases are discovered early and treated before they cause serious damage to their health.

    He urged them to stop abusing drugs, noting that people believe more in taking drugs than in healthy eating and living.

    “This is especially true in obese people who are trying to lose weight. Obese people prefer drugs, teas and herbs that will melt away their fat rather than being self-disciplined and exercising to lose weight,” he added.

     

  • Curbing fake drugs

    • Action should be expedited on proposed law

    IF things go as planned, people involved in drug counterfeiting or importation of fake drugs into the country will soon begin to get life imprisonment, without an option of fine. Dr. Paul Orhii, director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who dropped the hint said the government was also considering confiscation of the property of people involved in the illicit and killer business to compensate the victims.

    Orhii, who spoke during a meeting of the West African Health Organisation to harmonise the process of medicine registration in West Africa said that experts working on the country’s anti-counterfeiting law have made significant progress on the document and that they would send it to the National Assembly after concluding work on it.

    This is good news. In India and China, the wages of the crime is death. And, one may be tempted to want to recommend that Nigeria toes this path in view of the fatal consequences of the actions of the criminals involved in the illegal business. Perhaps the realisation by those putting the proposed legislation together, that headache cannot be cured simply by beheading those suffering from it should also be welcome.

    Fake drugs are often manufactured in dirty, unhygienic warehouses and sometimes can contain little or none of the genuine active ingredient, or remarkably harmful industrial compounds. The least harm one could suffer from buying of such drugs is for them to be ineffective, i.e. when the active ingredients are below what is claimed on their containers. In many cases, people have died after taking such drugs; many others suffered permanent deformities.

    We understand the basis of the proposal to deny bail to suspects held for the crime; that is to prevent them from continuing their trade, thereby stopping them from further jeopardising the lives of innocent members of the public. But we wonder if that can stand in our legal milieu where an accused is deemed innocent until proven otherwise by a competent court of law.

    However, we urge those putting the law together to expedite action and forward it to the National Assembly. While we urge the law makers to scrutinise the document, with a view to making it water-tight; they should also expedite action on it when it gets to them so as to save their compatriots from untimely deaths or deformities arising from consumption of counterfeited drugs.

    But we also want to quickly remind the authorities that the problem is not about legislation per se. Right now, there are laws prescribed for people involved in drug counterfeiting; but enforcement is the problem. Even if death penalty is prescribed for the offence and the law is not enforced, there won’t be appreciable result. Again, it does not seem NAFDAC is well funded and equipped to do the job thoroughly. For the proposed law to be meaningful when it becomes operational, the agency must be provided the wherewithal to adequately cover the whole country.

    Fake drug business is big business and those involved in it have become too sophisticated to be trailed or monitored by an under-funded and ill-equipped agency. For the law to be effective, NAFDAC officials must always be a step ahead of the criminals. This implies that the whistle blowers should start to benefit from the incentives that Dr Orhii said were in the offing for them to further encourage them to put in their best.

    It is also important that the Federal Government expedite action on the Memorandum of Understanding between it and China to check the influx of fake and substandard drugs from that country. China is not just a major exporter of drugs to Nigeria; it is also one of the world’s biggest exporters of counterfeit drugs.