The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has been urged by the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners to remove fake medications from the market.
The request was made on Tuesday in a Lagos interview with the News Agency of Nigeria by Dr. Kayode Adesola, the National President of the ANPMP.
According to the World Health Organization, in low- and middle-income nations, one out of every ten medicines fails due to poor or fraudulent ingredients.
Adesola also pleaded with the organization to take harmful goods off the market.
He claims that the inability of counterfeit medications to cure or prevent diseases has been caused by the toxicity of their wrong active components.
He claimed that as a result, the nation’s mortality, morbidity, and illness prevalence had all increased.
According to him, it was also accelerating the development of drug-resistant diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
The physician went on to say that this has reduced public confidence in healthcare and resulted in avoidable deaths.
Counterfeit malaria medications have been linked to multiple cases of people battling recurrent malaria.
Additionally, he stated, “the number of diabetics and hypertensive patients is rising, many of them have uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension which can lead to further complications.”
Adesola pleaded with NAFDAC to step up measures to guarantee the security of food and medication that Nigerians eat.
“I am aware that the agency is overburdened, but the nation’s economy and general well-being are negatively impacted by the rising criminal activity of some dishonest people who counterfeit items in a variety of industries.
A hamlet might be completely destroyed by a single product, which has serious health consequences.
“Thousands of children died from that product; many of us still can’t get over the ‘My pikin’ saga,” he said to NAN.
The president of the ANPMP went on to say that the health sector was understaffed, overworked, and dealing with a number of diseases, adding that a counterfeit product breakout would be catastrophic for the nation.
He stated, “Using counterfeit medications can have negative effects on people, communities, and public health worldwide.”
Adesola further encouraged the Federal Government to give the health sector priority by allocating more funds in accordance with the Abuja Declaration, which calls for 15% of the sector to be improved.