4th March, 2018
Torrid times now await the importers of fake, substandard and unlicensed drugs as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) has promised a frontal battle to their menace.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, on Sunday in Lagos that the war against bad drugs would be won with all hands on deck.
Prof Adeyeye was in November appointed the Director-General of NAFDAC; she was saddled with the task of enthroning and safeguarding the good health of Nigerians and also fighting against drug counterfeiting.
The retired Roosevelt University, U.S., don and a pharmacist, said that tackling the importation of unregistered drugs and other products at the point of entry would be a priority.
“We need to fight hard against unlicensed drugs because if the drugs are good, the importer will not be scared to register the drugs in the first place.
“We will tackle the drug menace at the point of entry and that is our ports. We have many containers of fake drugs waiting to berth at the ports to the markets.
“NAFDAC is not supposed to be in the ports but we will go there so we can stop unsafe drugs and unregistered products from coming into the country.
“If we don’t deal with them, they will, in turn, harm us, many of the unregistered drugs are substandard, so we need to station our personnel at the ports,’’ she said.
Adeyeye said that if there would be a need to change the existing laws that govern NAFDAC in order for it to fulfill its mandate at safeguarding the health of the nation, it won’t hesitate.
“NAFDAC is not supposed to be at the ports but these are the gateway for these drugs to come in. We will also go to patent stores and the pharmacies.
“If we have to change our laws so that NAFDAC can be at the ports and control the importation at the point of entry, we will so that they will not escape without notice.
“There are so many ways these bad medicines can be controlled, but NAFDAC must be given free hands to fulfill its mandate.
“For a stronger Nigeria, we need healthy drugs and NAFDAC is doing that, so we need all hands on deck, from community leaders to the religious leaders because we listen to them more,’’ she said.