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Tag: National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)

  • Ifu Ennada: Marriage isn’t for me yet

    Multiple award-winning actress and entrepreneur, Iheme Faith Uloma, more known as Ifu Ennada, has said being an entrepreneur might not let her marry on time.

    The actress said she has been busy and finally got the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) registration for her products and preparation for her new place shared the information with her followers.

    “Being an entrepreneur might not let me marry when I want to. The past few weeks have been very crazy for me. From trying to get my Nafdac registration finally done (I’ve been on it since last year), managing my staff and ongoing work at my new place to not sleeping till 5/6am because I have to communicate with Manufacturers in China of a new project I’m working on and inspect the work being done for me (China is 7hrs ahead). Add that to keeping up with being a celebrity, shooting contents, attending relevant events, interviews and reading scripts…my life is not fun sometimes. Most of what I do now is not what you assign to PAs.

    “Yesterday I broke down. I was crying because after months of going back and forth and thousands of dollars spent on multiple samples my new project wasn’t close to what I want. So I was crying and desperately needed a hug. Some days I forget to eat because I’m so immersed in my work.

    “This is why sometimes I feel like marriage isn’t for me until I’m absolutely ready. Sometimes I imagine adding my current To Do List to having a husband and children. I’ll probably run mad and that marriage might fail because marriage is a full time job…but God is with me. To everyone who follow @5millionaday my page for entrepreneurs, I’ll get back to posting there today.

    “To everyone who supports my business @beautifuennada , I don’t take your love for granted. The money I get from my business is what I’m investing into these other projects. I’m grateful for your faith in my brand, she said.

  • NAFDAC blames high drug abuse on its removal from port

    The removal of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been blamed for high rate of drug abuse in the country.

    The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye said the consequences of removing the agency that ought to scrutinize illicit drug importation at the port is the high rate of drug addiction among the country youth.

    The agency was removed from the port from 2011-2018.

    Adeyeye made the disclosure during an audience with the Chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee on Elimination of Drug Abuse, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (rtd), and other members of the committee in her office in Abuja.

    She expressed sadness that two generations of Nigerian youths are being wiped out due to drug addiction.

    According to her, “When NAFDAC was removed from the port from 2011-2018, I asked myself when you remove an agency that is supposed to oversee the importation of illicit drug in the port, then we will get our answer and part of the answer we got is the destruction of Nigerian youths, during that period. If we plot the graph NAFDAC not being at the port in 2011 -2018, we would find out that during that period when NAFDAC was not at the port, the drug addiction among our youths increased. But thank God President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 reversed the trend by returning NAFDAC to the port and since we got there, there have been good changes”.

    Read Also: NAFDAC to destroy N198bn seized tramadol

    The NAFDAC boss therefore assured Nigerians that the agency is ready to work around the clock, in order to intercept any illegal drugs being imported into the country,  “For instance in September 2018, I got a note that 31 containers of tramadol were coming into Nigeria, I thought it was a fluke but after a thorough investigations I discovered it was true, so we started monitoring the containers and the ships, these containers were labeled bounded terminals, which means we were not supposed to have seen it at first, we were able to intercept 21 containers, and out of the 21 containers only 2 has building materials, but all of them were labeled building materials.

    “When they know that port was hot they started turning around the rest of the containers, they went to a West African country we waited for them there. That West African country took over the containers and the others started going to another West African country and our staff started tracking them online. They got to another West African country and that country sent them back to Singapore.  They are back now and we are going to impound the four containers. We are here because of our children”.

    She said all hands must be on desk to eliminate drug addiction among Nigerian youths, adding that “President Muhaamadu Buhari has taken it upon himself to eliminate drug abuse in Nigeria. We must have passion for what we are doing. I have said it many times, a country cannot be greater than its youths, and we have lost about two generations to drug addiction. We must fight for our children and for their future”.

    Earlier the Chairman of the Committee, Buba Marwa lamented the high rate of drug addiction among Nigerian youths adding that it is imperative for all stakeholders to fight the menace.

    “It is very sad that two generations of our youths are being wiped out, so we must do something urgent. And the President Muhammadu Buhari is really concern and he wants us to bring about solution to this terrible state of affairs in the country as far as drug addiction is concern”, he said.

  • How I paid N3.2b inherited debt at NAFDAC – Adeyeye

    The Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye on Friday revealed how she was able to turn around the fortune of the agency and pay off the N3.2 billion debt she inherited.

    Adeyeye who came into office a year ago also said under her watch, the agency has seized and destroyed N30 billion worth fake drugs in the last one year.

    NAFDAC DG who briefed Journalists on the occasion marking her one year in office on Friday in Abuja said that at the time of assuming office, there was no budgeting for the agency.

    She said, “I did not know that there was no directorate-focused budgeting before my assumption and that the agency had N3.2 billion debt. I met this big challenge with great resolve as p[art of quality management system that included fiscal and financial responsibility. I had to work with finance and accounts directorate for about three months from January-March 2018.”

    The result of the efforts, she said include, “reducing the debt profile from N3.2billion of the agency to zero as of November 20th 2018.”

    she also noted that the agency has been able to put in place financial sanity by stepping down all fictitious claims and also introducing budget discipline to all financial activities of the agency.

    Read Also: NAFDAC warns against consumption of puffer fish

    Besides, she also noted that the agency has been able to pay severance allowance of retired staff worth N14.246,499.00 million.

    this is as the agency has also recovered N106,590,298.52 million erroneously credited to another MDA in 2015.The agency she said also recoveredN533 million by the ports Inspection Directorate evaded administrative charges.

    Apart from sanitizing the agency, Prof. Adeyeye also disclosed that in the last one year, the agency has seized and destroyed substandard and falsified medicines including unwholesome foods and other unregulated products worth over N3billion within the last one year.

    She pointed out that the removal of NAFDAC from the ports from 2011 to 2018 worsened the problem of substandard and falsified medicines (SFs) and unwholesome foods in the country and portended real danger to the populace.

    NAFDAC boss also posited that part of her plan to eliminate fake and illicit drugs is to promote local manufacturing; something she admitted has been top on her mind.

    “This is to reverse the trend of 30 per cent locally manufactured drug products towards 70 per cent,” she pointed out.

    Adeyeye added that local manufacturing also ensures drug security, reduce unemployment and increases contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to the nation’s GDP.

    “It has been documented that most of the SFs are imported due to the fact that access and fastness to inspect local companies are quite spontaneous,” she stated.

    The DG also informed that since her assumption of office, the agency has intercepted 86 containers containing tramadol and other unregulated drug products.

    “These include 23 (40ft) containers recently examined and found to have been loaded with tramadol of various strengths from 120mg to 250mg and other unregistered pharmaceutical products that sre known to be injurious to the health of the public, most importantly our youth.

    “The Tramadol is estimated to be over six billion tablets. The worth of Tramadol alone on the street is estimated to be at about N193billio,” she explained.

     

     

     

  • More women abusing drugs to forget disappointments, sorrows  – NAFDAC

    More women in Nigeria are getting involved in drug abuse from mixed concoctions to momentary “forget their worries and problems” of living.
    Also, unsuspecting members of the public, particularly those who eat from roadside eateries and make shift ‘bukateria’ are getting hooked  on drugs without them knowing because some unscrupulous food vendors mix their delicacies with concoctions to induce addiction to their meals and boost sales.
    The Assistant Director, Drug Demand Reduction Division (DDRD) of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Pharm.(Mrs) Clara Anyanwu, who disclosed these trends
    to reporters at the weekend, identified “noodles” as one fast food such unscrupulous food sellers prepare with drugs and serve  customers.
    Mrs. Anyanwu said this informed why some people would by – pass many locations and go some distances away to patronise a particular food vendor, whereas there are other food sellers nearby.
    She spoke shortly after delivering a talk – shop on ‘abnormal drug use: the modern vices militating against elevation (of youths) by God,’ at the 2018 National Youth Convention of the Fresh Anointing International Church, Km 58, Lagos – Abeokuta expressway, Akinale, Ogun State.
    Anyanwu revealed that the degree of youth and women involvement in drugs abuse is “scary and serious,” hinting that the official “standard statistics” on drugs abuse in the country and demography of people affected, would be made known soon by the appropriate Federal Government ministry.
    She said Nigerians should “stop living in denial” over drugs abuse, saying aside tramadol which was banned because of its abuse, people are “mixing things” unimaginable and consuming them to get high and as a  escape from worries.

    Read also: Third mainland bridge reopened for traffic – LASG

    She lauded the church for initiating a programme where the youths were enlightened on the dangers, and identified, peers influence, ignorance, curiosity and wrong examples from parents as the factors driving drugs abuse in the country.
    Over 2000 youths and children participated at the two day – long event, where an Operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) also enlightened the participants on the dangers of cyber crimes and the need to steer away from it lest they jeopardize their bright future.
    The Church’s Bishop, Dr. Adegoke Itiola, said the church would continue to organise such programme to mould the youth to be on the right path so that they would be profitable to themselves, families, society and the nation.

  • NAFDAC seizes medical devices, expired drugs at Enugu airport

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has seized fake medical devices, cosmetics, expired drugs and empty labels worth N5.804 million at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

    NAFDAC’s Airport Head, Mr John Okwori, disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Enugu on Tuesday.

    Read Also:NAFDAC seizes 3,300kg of banned frozen vegetables

    Okwori said that the seized fake products included unregistered and unlabeled blood glucose test strips unbranded from China to be possibly labelled in Nigeria and sold as imported original brand.

    He noted that other items confiscated were herbal skin doctor massage cream for stretch marks, which had no NAFDAC registration number and was equally imported from China.

    According to him, the agency also seized empty PVC cosmetic packaging containers for counterfeiting registered products and Benchmate PAR-BRO 60 powder in sachets all imported from China.

    “NAFDAC is hereby warning prospective importers of fake consignments to desist from patronising the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, as the unit is up and ready to deal appropriately with such violators.

    “Just as the NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has directed that serious action be taken against such imports and violators henceforth,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • FG recalls 2.4m bottles of cough syrup containing codeine

    The Federal Ministry of Health has recalled 2.4 million bottles of codeine containing cough syrup after a recent audit trail of the substance carried out by National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    According to a statement by Mrs Boade Akinola, Director Media and Public Relations of the ministry on Sunday in Abuja, the recall demonstrated the Federal Government’s resolve to stem the abuse of codeine containing cough syrup and other substances in Nigeria.

    Akinola said the minister had recently received the final report of the 22-man Stakeholders Committee set up by the Ministry to address the worrisome menace of codeine abuse in Nigeria.

    She quoted the Minister of Health Prof Isaac Adewole as saying that the audit trail and subsequent recall of the substance was part of recommendations of Stakeholders Committee set by the ministry to address codeine abuse in Nigeria.

    The minister said the committee was drafted from a broad spectrum of the health sector in collaboration with relevant Agencies as part of Pharmacovigilance and renewed effort to monitor drug distribution channels and sanitise the system.

    The Minister recalled that the committee was an offshoot of the Press release issued by the Ministry on the temporary ban of Codeine production and distribution.

    He said the committee has Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Christianah Adeyeye as the chairman; other members include Muhammad Abdullahi, Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    Others are Elijah Mohamed, the Registrar of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria; Mr Moshood Lawal, Director, Food and Drugs Services, Federal Ministry of Health; Ahmed Yakasai, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) among others.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on May 1, Federal Government banned the production and importation of codeine as active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough syrup preparations to check substance abuse among Nigerians.

    The minister directed NAFDAC to ban the issuance of permits for the importation of codeine as active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations.

    He also directed the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, (PCN) and NAFDAC to supervise the recall for labelling and audit trailing of all codeine containing cough syrups nationwide.

    Read also: http://staging.thenationonlineng.net/nafdac-destroys-counterfeit-products-worth-n650m-in-kaduna/

    The federal government had also banned the sale of codeine containing cough syrup without prescription.
    The minister said the directive became necessary due to the gross abuse of codeine in the country.

    In this regard, the minister said PCN had been directed to continue enforcement activities on pharmacies, patent and proprietary medicine vendors’ shops and outlets throughout the country.

    He also directed NAFDAC to carry out its functions in compliance with the new directives.

    The minister said cough syrups containing codeine should be replaced with dextromethorphan which is less addictive.

    Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant used to treat coughing, it is also a drug of the morphinan class with sedative, dissociative, and stimulant properties.

  • NAFDAC destroys N3b tramadol, others

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has destroyed N3.5bn worth of seized drugs and other products described as the largest seizures in recent times.

    The products destroyed at Okediya dump site, Shagamu, Ogun state included

    Tramadol, Codeine, consignments of smuggled/ illegally imported Unwholesome Sugar (different brands) of Brazilian sugar worth over N100m which was said to have been rebranded by one businesswoman in a popular Lagos market. And Counterfeit medicines.

    Also included are damaged and expired NAFDAC Regulated products voluntarily submitted to the Agency by compliant companies.
    The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye breaks it down: “The total street value of the products destroyed is about Three Billion, Five Hundred and Eight Million, Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty-two Naira (N3,508,550,762.00).  The street value of tramadol that is being destroyed today is estimated to be N1,708,750,000.00”.

    According to the Director-General, the street value of Tramadol seized alone was estimated at N1.7bn adding that the Tramadol was intercepted mainly at Tin Can Port in Apapa.

    Prof. Adeyeye was joined by the First Lady of Ogun State, Dr. (Mrs.) Olufunsho Amosun, and officials of the Ogun state government as well as other stakeholders including NDLEA, Police and DSS to destroy the seized items.

    She explained that while only 50m and 100mg of Tramadol are approved for use in Nigeria, the strength of most of the ones seized was far above the approved range. The unapproved strengths are 250mg and 500mg.

    Prof Adeyeye said: “The banned strengths have deleterious effects on vital organs of the body including the brain. 13 containers of banned and unregistered Tramadol and Diclofenac released to the agency by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) are also being destroyed, here”.

    Read also :NAFDAC, others enlighten on herbal products

    The Director-General revealed that investigations by her agency have shown that there is a cartel specialising in the importation of this banned Tramadol into the country, adding that all hands must be on deck to stop those behind the cartel.

    “I am calling for quick amendment of the NAFDAC laws to prescribe a stiffer penalty for peddlers of the banned drugs. Just last week, the agency secured a conviction for one Mr Ezeanwu Ifeanyi at the Federal High Court in Lagos with the convict sentenced to five years imprisonment for being in possession of Tramadol though with an option of N300,000 fine.

    “We also have one counterfeit medicine seized and confiscated from Olisameka Osefo. The suspect was arraigned and subsequently convicted while the fake medicines were forfeited to the government for destruction”, she added.

    Prof Adeyeye appealed to the National Assembly to speed-up the amendment to the laws to address the dangerous trend of Counterfeiting and destruction of innocent lives.
    “A situation where a convict is sentenced to two years in prison with an option of the maximum statutory fine of five hundred thousand is a nudge on the counterfeiters, not even a slap. We call for stiffer sentencing, confiscation of the assets of the convict and adequate compensation of the victim(s) of the crime among others,” she stated.

    Meanwhile Mrs Amosun and the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Bolaji Oyeleye commended NAFDAC for its proactiveness and diligence which resorted to the massive seizures.

    They equally urged the agency to adhere to the international standard of destructing seized regulated items, stating that, “when they are burned in open space as this, they emit dangerous chemicals into the air, thereby polluting the environment. Do get incinerators,” said Mrs Amosun.

  • NAFDAC cracks down on fakers in Aba

    NAFDAC cracks down on fakers in Aba

    The ember-months are probably the busiest for Nigerians. They buy and sell. In Aba, the tempo is much higher. A lot of buying and selling takes place there.

    And that is where the unscrupulous and criminal-minded individuals or even cartels come into the picture. They capitalise on the feverish tempo of business at this time to push all manner of products into the market.  Among the deluge of those products are expired foods, adulterated drinks and other consumables. This is even as these fakers care less about the negative effects of their actions but rather, they concentrate on the fortunes that they are going to make from the sale of such products.

    There is bad news for them. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said they are in for a bad season. How? The agency is ready to put them out of business.

    NAFDAC said anyone caught in the act of product adulteration and products not approved by the agency would be brought to book according to the provisions of the law.

    In an exclusive interview, the Abia State coordinator of NAFDAC, Okeke Olisa, a pharmacist, disclosed that the agency was working assiduously to ensure that the people of the state and visitors who may wish to stop and do some shopping in Aba buy original products.

    According to him, the agency in an August raid, confiscated fake products of about N20m during the operation.

    Olisa lamented attacks on its personnel by traders especially at Eziukwu/Cemetery Market, the second largest market in Aba.

    He also commended the cooperation and assistance they have enjoyed with the police and other sister agencies that provided cover for them during their operations to avoid mob action on its personnel. This is even as he stated that no amount of attack would deter them from doing what is right.

    The NAFDAC chief stated that the agency as part of its measures to ensure that they frustrate and nip the activities of fakers in the bud, have deployed its men in various market and production plants to carry out surveillance on what goes in and out of the markets and also to ensure that products churned out for use or consumption met NAFDAC approved standard.

    He said, ”Aba is a commercial city where we have businessmen and opportunists who wants to capitalise on the good intentions of some businessmen to bring in things that are not genuine. It is expected in a commercial city like Aba and most commercial populated cities. That is why the management of NAFDAC in its wisdom located its office in Aba instead of being cited at the State capital and it has helped in curbing the tendencies of fakers bringing in fake products in Aba and Abia State as a whole.

    “Eziukwu market for instance is a place where you have highly unsafe packaged food products. Because of the volume of trade on cosmetics and other items going in the market, some people have come to group themselves with the aim of faking good products, but most times, we have raided them.

    “We go there for routine inspection and as we speak, we have our men on ground at the market and checking what they have on the shelves. In the month of August we carried a raid on a particular zone where we got hint that people were faking products. We succeeded in carting away fake products that worth over N20m from that zone. It might interest you to know that while we were doing that, touts in that market attacked our personnel.

    “Again in September, they attacked us again in that market. It would have been more fatal if not for the assistance of police personnel that were with us. We are not deterred.

    “We have entered the Christmas period where you see influx of goods and services. There is high propensity that people are going to buy things in the market which is common place during the Christmas period. So we are all out to make sure that people who are going to cease that opportunity to bring in fake product would be nabbed.”

    “Within this period, we normally increase our surveillance activities and also rely on our informants and good citizens who are willing to give us useful information about the activities of suspected faking of product adulteration in their vicinity,” the NAFDAC chief stated.

    Stating the desire of the agency in ensuring that shoppers continue to buy original products of their choice in the market, he warned that the agency would make faking and adulteration of products an unproductive venture for those who engage in such illicit business.

     

  • Buhari appoints Adeyeye as NAFDAC DG

    Buhari appoints Adeyeye as NAFDAC DG

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Professor Moji Christiana Adeyeye as the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Assistant Director of Press in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mohammed Nakorji.

    According to him statement, Moji Christianah Adeyeye is a seasoned Pharmacist with a proven track record of accomplishments in Nigeria and abroad.

    It reads; “She is also a Professor of Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing Science and Drug Product Evaluation, College of Pharmacy, Roosevelt University, USA amongst others.”

    The appointment, which takes effect from November 3, 2017, is for the initial term of five (5) years.

  • NAFDAC refutes report of 70% fake drugs in Nigerian markets

    NAFDAC refutes report of 70% fake drugs in Nigerian markets

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control ( NAFDAC ) has denied reports that 70 per cent of drugs in the country are fake and described such information as false and misleading.

    NAFDAC spokesperson Abubakar Jimoh while reacting on the report on Sunday in Abuja said the statement from the acclaimed expert was displeasing and false.

    Jimoh said that the report was just a mare statement without referring it to a particular study or research work.

    One Mr Andrew Nevin, an Economist and Financial Services Advisory Leader of Project Blue PWc Nigeria in a key note address at a conference by Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in Umuahia recently said 70 per cent of drugs in Nigeria are fake.

    Nevin also stated that Africa records 100,000 deaths arising from counterfeit drugs related ailments annually.

    Jimoh explained that the fight against counterfeit drugs had been heightened from 2001 to date and had led to a drastic reduction in fake drugs in the market.

    He said that in 2001, when this kind of report appeared in public, the agency conduct a systematic study and in 2005, NAFDAC in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) did another research.

    He disclosed that the study done with WHO showed that the prevalence of counterfeit drugs in circulation was 16.7 per cent for all categories of drugs.

    According to him, the agency puts a lot of efforts to fight counterfeiters by introducing TruScan machine in 2010 to detect fake drugs in the market.

    The Spokesperson noted that another research conducted in 2012 indicated that the prevalence of counterfeit medicines in circulation in the country had gone down to 6.4 per cent.

    He said that the same year, a separate research by the agency on anti malaria drugs which Nigerians consume more showed counterfeited ones have dropped to 19.6 per cent.

    He stated that the 2011 WHO’s study revealed that there was 20 per cent fake drugs in Africa which the result was almost the same with that of NAFDAC conducted in 2012.

    Jimoh added that in 2014 the result of a study by NAFDAC in conjunction with United State of Pharmacopia (USP) showed that the country only had 3.6 per cent of fake anti malaria drugs in the market.

    He said that the result of a research work on fake drugs between his agency and USP conducted in 2017 were being awaited.

    “The counterfeiters in the country engage more in anti malaria drugs because they know the patronage is high and with awareness created and introduction of various devices by NAFDAC, we have been able to reduce such counterfeit malaria drugs drastically.

    “Getting such unresearched work from acclaimed expert undermines our efforts, it is unfortunate and very painful,” he said.

    He said that NAFDAC remained committed and determined to fight counterfeit drugs in the country.

    NAN