The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NAFDAC

  • Aondoakaa, Orhii, Orya, 23 others back Suswam

    Aondoakaa, Orhii, Orya, 23 others back Suswam

    Former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Mike Aondoakaa, National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Director-General Paul Orhii and NEXIM Bank Managing Director Robert Orya have endorsed Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam’s senatorial ambition.

    At a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders meeting in Ushongo Local Government Area, Aondoakaa, Orhii, Orya and 23 other prominent sons and daughters of the council backed Suswam for the Benue Northeast senatorial election next year.

    They signed an undertaking to support Suswam in the election in which the incumbent, Senator Barnabas Gemade, has also shown interest.

    They also washed the governor’s legs and dressed him in the Tiv traditional attire to show their support for him.

  • Mimi Orjiekwe named NAFDAC brand advocate

    Mimi Orjiekwe named NAFDAC brand advocate

    NOLLYWOOD screen goddess, Mimi Orjiekwe, has been commissioned by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as a brand advocate for its campaign.

    With the new development, the actress will partner with the Agency to help in promoting anti-counterfeit, while also informing the general public about the ways of verifying the authenticity of anti-malarial and antibiotic drugs.

    In a statement, the Agency said the new initiative is an interactive text messaging system between consumers and NAFDAC, which will hopefully reduce the purchasing of counterfeit drugs in the country.

  • Customs rakes in N2.9b

    Customs rakes in N2.9b

    The Kano/Jigawa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has generated N2.93 billion and seized goods worth  N400,000.

    Its Area Comptroller, Abbas Umar, said the amount was generated in the last seven months.

    Umar, who spoke at a stakeholders’ forum in Kano, said the Command recorded the seizure of dangerous drugs, including rice, vegetable oil, spaghetti and mosquito coils, adding that military camouflage uniforms and boots were among the items impounded at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.

    He explained that the confiscation of the Army uniforms was significant because of the security situation in the country.

    While appreciating the patronage of the business communities in Kano and Jigawa states, he noted that Kano is the commercial hub of the entire North, adding: “An importer can bring his goods, process his documents and pay duty in Kano and have his goods examined and released just as it can be done at the ports.”

    Umar said the forum was organised to enlighten and sensitise the public on the new guidelines and procedures on import and export trade, and the benefits derivable from the fast-track system introduce by Customs for the industrial sectors.

    He explained that the Customs management led by Comptroller-General, Abdullahi Dikko Inde, has made stakeholders engagement a cardinal principle of the Service, pointing out: “It is in this spirit that this forum is being held in Kano to enable us have a cross-fertilisation of ideas in carrying out the core responsibilities of the Service of which facilitation of trade is a major flank,” he said.

    Some of the papers delivered at the forum dwelt on import/export procedures, Nigeria trade hub as a veritable tool for trade facilitation and fast-track and its benefits.

    The event was attended by the representatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), NAFDAC, Immigration Service, Kano-based business men, importers, exporters and other stakeholders.

    Meanwhile, the Sokoto/Kebbi/ Zamfara Area Command of the NCS, has seized 600 cartons of Gold Seal Cigarettes with a duty-value of over N73.45 million.

    Its Area Controller, Ahmed Isyaku, said the Command intercepted the items because the owner failed to pay the specified Customs’ duties.

    “The commodity was seized not because it was a contraband, but because the owner did not pay the prescribed duty,” Isyaku, said, adding that the cigarettes were seized in an articulated vehicle on the Gusau-Tsafe road by operatives on patrol.

    He said one suspect connected with the goods had been apprehended and is awaiting prosecution.

    He said Command also seized 1,050 cartons of frozen fish, worth over N20 million, adding that the frozen fish has been destroyed.

    “The destruction had generated panic in certain quarters associating the fish with the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). I wish to use this medium to clarify the air that by no means was that frozen fish associated with any disease.

    “That fish was destroyed in that manner because that is what the law stipulated, the importer contravened all the requirements for fish importation, hence the interception and the destruction,” he said.

  • NAFDAC partners pharmacists to stop counterfeiting

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) are collaborating to curb the menace of drug counterfeiting.

    Its Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii said the fight cannot be won alone, hence, the need to work together to rid the country of fake drugs.

    He spoke at the 17th Annual Conference/ second town hall meeting of NAIP in Lagos. The theme was: Tapping the opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry for wealth creation.

    Orhii, represented by Director, Registration and Regulation, Dr Monica Emujeize, said counterfeiting is an issue that demands cooperation of everybody.

    The agency boss said it is a global issue, which affects public safety, thus it must be stopped.

    He said the quest by pharmaceutical companies to get the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) pre-qualification has made the practitioners to improve in the sector.

    “This is because they will be able to export their drugs to other countries across the world unhindered. This is good for the sector,” he said.

    NAIP chairman, Prince Gbenga Folabi said NAFDAC should be empowered by law to check all containers coming into the country’s seaports.

    This, he said, will ensure that no fake medicine found its way into Nigeria. “The agency should be able to do its job thoroughly unlike when the Customs invite its officials to conduct a check,” he said.

    He described counterfeiting as “a global terrorism”, which should be jointly fought.

    “Drug counterfeiting has been a robber of prosperity and killers of the sector, with people losing trust and confidence. The agency has in no little way helped to restore confidence,” he said.

    He said sanity is gradually returning to the sector, adding: “The situation in the industry is not as gloomy as it appears. The Federal Government has renewed commitment to ensure self-sufficiency in the sector. This will lead to an expansion of the market.”

  • NAFDAC prepares staff for retirement

    NAFDAC prepares staff for retirement

    MOVED by the plight some workers face after retirement, the National Agency for Foods, Drugs and Administration Control (NAFDAC) has sponsored a three-day training for its staff in Lagos.

    The programme, which ends today, is being facilitated by Project Fix Nigeria Consulting, and attended by  Commandant, Nigeria Armed Forces Resettlement  Centre (NAFRC)Air Vice Marshall John Morgan, representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), banks and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

    NAFDAC’s Director-General, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the training was imperative because workers do not prepare for retirement. He cited some foreign countries where workers plan for retirement from the first day of their employment. As a result, they look forward to enjoying a happy post-working life, he said.

    He said the training was part of the agency’s welfare package for its workers, saying it is the first among the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to kick off the programme. “I think it is a very good programme. I encourage you to take it serious and think seriously about your future,” he said.

    Justifying the inclusion of workers who are not yet ready for retirement in the programme, Orhii explained that while it would help them to prepare for retirement, it would also enable them to go into farming, an area the constitution allows public servants to go into.

    AVM Morgan said the training was good in that agro based schemes could excite members of the Armed Forces. He said he was touched  each time pensioners were called for payment, they come out enmasse, suggesting all might not be well with some of them. He said NAFRC was embracing the training because its objectives were in tandem with those of the centre.

    President, Project Fix Nigeria Consulting, Olusegun Okowontan, said the training was novel in the country because it emphasises team work. He said the workers would be trained on how they could tap into the advantage of their numbers, pool their resources together and build a mega firm from it. He listed areas they could look into as agro allied.

    He said: “All over the world, what drives the economy are the people. So, people make the economy work. It works with numbers of people. The more the people contribute, the more the money that would be available for development.

    He said the role of his firm, beside the training, is to mobilise people for growth and provide leadership for the project, adding: “We deal with institutions, not individuals. Our target is the family.”

    He listed the benefits of the programme as enjoyment of reduced interest rates, revision of rural-urban migration and getting some resources that would have been difficult for individuals to get on their own.

  • NAFDAC arrests importers of expired sanitisers, fake Ebola kits

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said  yesterday that it has arrested Mr. James Nnaji of 11, Oguta Road, Onitsha, Anambra State for allegedly importing expired brands of hand sanitisers through the Nigeria Handling Company (NAHCO).

    Its Director-General, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the products expired since  December 29, 2012.

    Orhii, who spoke with reporters, said the products would not have protected any user against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) if used because they had expired.

    Also arrested by the agency, was Mr. John Kolawole Ojewale of Multi Product Medical Supply Company, 7, Alhaji Isiaka Street, Ilasamaja, Lagos, for allegedly selling fake rapid response EVD test kits.

    The kits, Orhii noted, were un-evaluated and untested, adding that such was never mentioned in Geneva, Switzerland, where he attended a world conference on the containment of the Ebola virus.

    Ojewale, he said, confessed that Lateef Bamisedun, an engineer, of Starlink, 26, Akintunde Close, Onike, Yaba, Lagos imported the fake kits.

    Orhii said the agency arrested the importer, adding: “He confessed that he imported the kits from Canada. Ojewale is already making contact with a company in China with a view to counterfeiting the ‘fake Ebola Rapid Diagnostic Cassette Test Kit’.”

    The importation of the fake products, the DG said, could derail the efforts by the Federal and Lagos state governments to contain the spread of EVD.

    The NAFDAC boss said the agency would prosecute some professors for making false claims that “ewedu” and “bitter kola” could cure EVD.

  • NAFDAC prepares staff for retirement

    MOVED by the plight some workers face after retirement, the National Agency for Foods, Drugs and Administration Control (NAFDAC) has sponsored a three-day training for its staff in Lagos.

    The programme, which ends today, is being facilitated by Project Fix Nigeria Consulting, and attended by  Commandant, Nigeria Armed Forces Resettlement  Centre (NAFRC)Air Vice Marshall John Morgan, representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), banks and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

    NAFDAC’s Director-General, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the training was imperative because workers do not prepare for retirement. He cited some foreign countries where workers plan for retirement from the first day of their employment. As a result, they look forward to enjoying a happy post-working life, he said.

    He said the training was part of the agency’s welfare package for its workers, saying it is the first among the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to kick off the programme. “I think it is a very good programme. I encourage you to take it serious and think seriously about your future,” he said.

    Justifying the inclusion of workers who are not yet ready for retirement in the programme, Orhii explained that while it would help them to prepare for retirement, it would also enable them to go into farming, an area the constitution allows public servants to go into.

    AVM Morgan said the training was good in that agro based schemes could excite members of the Armed Forces. He said he was touched  each time pensioners were called for payment, they come out enmasse, suggesting all might not be well with some of them. He said NAFRC was embracing the training because its objectives were in tandem with those of the centre.

    President, Project Fix Nigeria Consulting, Olusegun Okowontan, said the training was novel in the country because it emphasises team work. He said the workers would be trained on how they could tap into the advantage of their numbers, pool their resources together and build a mega firm from it. He listed areas they could look into as agro allied.

    He said: “All over the world, what drives the economy are the people. So, people make the economy work. It works with numbers of people. The more the people contribute, the more the money that would be available for development.

    He said the role of his firm, beside the training, is to mobilise people for growth and provide leadership for the project, adding: “We deal with institutions, not individuals. Our target is the family.”

    He listed the benefits of the programme as enjoyment of reduced interest rates, revision of rural-urban migration and getting some resources that would have been difficult for individuals to get on their own.

  • Soaring sub-standard products

    Soaring sub-standard products

    •It is unacceptable that our markets swarm with them

    The scandalous scale of substandard products in the country is not only detrimental to economic growth but also constitutes a serious threat to healthy living. The rise in the manufacturing, distribution, importation and consumption of substandard products in the country deserves stern measures, far above the current tepid stance that has yielded very little result.

    A report by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) under the leadership of Dr. Joseph Odumodu disclosed that substandard products in the country as at 2012 accounted for between 80 and 85 per cent of total products in the marketplace. The organisation’s claim that this has since dropped to 50 percent in the last two years because of its ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign remains to be felt because Nigerian markets are still replete with substandard/expired products. A corroboration of this position is the revelation that certified domestic products improved to negligible 13 per cent from the less than 10 per cent obtained in 2011. In sharp but better contrast, less endowed countries like Egypt and Kenya have 40 per cent and South Africa, 30 per cent of substandard products in their markets.

    The other government agencies saddled with the responsibilities of regulating standards and protecting the interest of consumers, apart from SON, include the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Consumer Protection Council (CPC). And, except for NAFDAC under the late Professor Dora Akunyili’s leadership that reportedly succeeded in reducing substandard products by 60 percent, the current rating of these bodies could be described as below average.

    The CPC, in particular, has done very little to protect consumers’ interests. The body that began operation in 1999 after having been established by Act No. 66 of 1992 under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment has done very little to take manufacturers of fake products to task. Yet, it has the mandate to eliminate all hazardous products from our markets; ensure provision and initiation of the process of getting swift redress by aggrieved consumers and to undertake awareness campaigns in the public domain. How effective has the CPC and others performed these important tasks?

    We find it quite confusing why it has always been easy for substandard items to have unfettered access into the country despite the presence of these statutory agencies and other security outfits at the nation’s border posts. Does it mean that these institutions of state have compromised their mandates to the detriment of the nation’s interests? David Parradang, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) reportedly gave some startling statistics of illegal routes in the country. He revealed that there are over 1, 400 illegal routes into Nigeria that has an approved 84 border controls covering 4,047 kilometres. This is a clear scandalous difference of 1,316 illegal routes. Two states: Ogun and Adamawa reportedly have an alarming highest number of illegal routes of 83 and 80, respectively, in the land.

    Under the prevailing low motivation of Immigration officials, with equipment deficiency, it is quite apparent why the country has very porous borders spurring thriving illegal routes. This compromised situation gives impetus to substandard and expired product importers who travel to China and other industrialised countries to induce manufacturers to produce fake/substandard products to be imported and sold solely in the country. This nefarious trend, within and outside the country by local manufacturers/importers, cannot continue if the government indeed loves its citizens.

    We call for serious enforcement strategies and a quick restructuring of existing seeming compromised agencies of state if the country truly desires to conquer the war against substandard/fake products.

     

  • NAFDAC warned against unregistered products

    NAFDAC warned against unregistered products

    •Collaboration with orthodox medicine practitioners underway

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged traditional medicine practitioners to register their herbal products “in accordance with its drugs and related products” registration guidelins or face the music.

    Its Director-General (DG), Dr Paul Orhii, said regulation is pertinent to ensuring that only quality, safe and effective herbal medicines are available to consumers.

    Orhii spoke at this year’s African Traditional Medicine Day (ATMD), with the theme: “Collaboration between traditional medicine practitioners and conventional medicine practitioners”.

    Orhii said adequate regulation would aid the integration of complementary and alternative medicine into the country’s health care system. “Besides, the agency is in constant discussion with stakeholders to ensure compliance,” he stated.

    He further said: “Unpatriotic Nigerians who continue to engage in illegal advertisement of their products and those making false claims not evaluated by NAFDAC should desist from acts misleading the unsuspecting public. I want to warn and inform them that NAFDAC would deal decisively with anyone found to contravene.”

    The DG, represented by the agency’s Director of Laboratory Services, Mrs Stella Denloye, said there are established standards and guidelines for regulating herbal medicine products, which is being implemented by the agency in collaboration with stakeholders.

    According to him, a National Committee has been established to advise the agency on herbal medicinal products.

    Moreover, the World Health Organisation new strategy on Traditional Medicine (TM) focused on three sectors: “To build the knowledge base around traditional medicine and Complementary medicine (TM and CM) through appropriate national policies. The role and potential of TM and CM cannot be over-emphasised. There is the need to strengthen the knowledge base, build evidence and sustain resources.

    “Also, it is to strengthen quality assurance, safety assurance, proper use and effectiveness of TM and CM by regulating these products, practice and practitioners. Globally, there is increased focus on regulation. TM practitioners need to appreciate the role and importance of regulation.

    “It is also to promote the universal health coverage by integrating TM and CM services, appropriately. Self health-care is fast becoming a way of life. It is, therefore, necessary for consumers of TM and CM to be empowered to make informed choices about self healthcare, especially for those that self-medicate with herbal medicine products.

    He said Expert Committee on Verification of claims by herbal practitioners has been established, adding that eight products have so far been approved for verification exercise.

    He said: “About 80 per cent of the population in developing countries and Africa use traditional medicine (TM) for their primary health care (PHC) needs.

    “Despite this high patronage, TM is often stigmatised by the practitioners of modern or conventional medicine so much so that in some countries it is even illegal to practise it. However, with the global resurgence of interest in TM and increasing need for expanded health care, there is the need to institutionised TM in the health systems across the world including Nigeria.”

    The agency, he said, has banned illegal advertisement of herbal products and bogus claims of cure for diseases.

    Director, Drug Evaluation and Research (DER) Directorate, Mrs Titilope Owolabi said the theme draws attention to the urgent need for the cooperation between traditional medicine practitioners and conventional medicine practitioners to enhance better and reliable healthcare delivery.

    She said before orthodox medicine came people relied totally on TM for all healthcare needs.

    This, she said, includes the use of herbal, animal and mineral based materials often laced with spiritual ingredients, such as incantations.

    Mrs Owolabi encouraged people to embrace TM and offer ways to make it viable.

    She said there is the need to strengthen collaboration between the practitioners to prevent infectious disease and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) because of rising disease burden.

    The director enjoined stakeholders to collaborate on controlling diseases.

    “This collaboration needs to be coordinated to ensure safety, standardisation and broader efficacy in healthcare. To support this initiative, the government has established a committee known as Expert Committee for Verification of Claims of Herbal Medicines which was given a mandate to verify claims made by TM practitioners. The committee is made up of representatives from the academia, NAFDAC, TM associations, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID) and the Media,” she stated.

  • NAFDAC shuts seven shops

    NAFDAC shuts seven shops

    The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Kano State has shut seven shops for illegal repackaging of palm oil, spaghetti, salt and vegetable oil classified as contraband goods.

    The illegal goods are valued at N200million.

    The operation was carried out at Singer, Galadima Palm Oil and Yankura markets.

    The Assistant Director of NAFDAC, Alhaji Shaba Mohammed, who led the operation amid heavy security, said the owners of the closed shops sold contraband goods.

     He added: “They engage in illegal importation of vegetable oil. The importation of the product was banned to give local manufacturers the opportunity to sell their products and create jobs for the masses.”

      Mohammed said most of the imported vegetable oil, spaghetti and salt lack fortified Vitamin A, which is essential to consumers’ health.

      He said government would not allow dubious businessmen to endanger the health of the citizens.

      The chairman of Singer Market, Abdulaziz Al–Musa, said they cooperated with NAFDAC  to ensure good hygienic condition of food items.

       He added: “We need to cooperate with NAFDAC officials because they are doing a good job.”

     Al-Musa urged government to provide a conducive environment for local industries to enable them compete with their foreign counterparts.

       He said people imported goods because of the high cost of locally-manufactured products.