NAFDAC seeks partnership with media tackling fake drugs

By Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sought the collaborative effort of the media in Nigeria to tackle fake drugs and substandard products, saying the agency cannot do it all alone.

Speaking while playing host to the executive of the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ), led by its President, Hassan Zaggi in Abuja on Monday, NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye lamented that many Nigerians have in the past suffered permanent injury while others lost their lives due to lack of drug control.

She said that her agency has discovered that some Nigerians add dye to palm oil to make it reddish, lamenting that the trend if not controlled will destroy the kidneys of consumers of such unwholesome product.

While expressing optimism that NAFDAC will soon overcome all its challenges, Prof. Adeyeye added that with the support of the media, Nigerians will take precaution of the development.

“Those who are faking drugs and palm oil that we use by adding dye to it are unaware of the fact that it can damage the kidney. This is not just NAFDAC’s problem, it is the media problem also because we are in it together,’’ Prof. Adeyeye said.

She disclosed that when she came of the chief executive of the agency, NAFDAC was in a sorry state as most of the equipment was dilapidated and the agency was in huge debt.

Lamenting the poor remuneration of staff of the agency and called on the federal government to look into the welfare of the staff giving the sensitive and risky job they do.

Earlier, the President of the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists, Hassan Zaggi, applauded the reforms currently being initiated by the agency, pledging that the media would continue to work closely with NAFDAC to ensure that Nigerians get the needed information to safeguard their health.