Efforts of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and its stakeholders to reduce the prevalence of substandard and fake medicines in Nigeria is gaining grounds, as Aba patent medicine dealers hand over expired, fake medicines worth millions of Naira to the agency for destruction.
The burden of counterfeit and expired drugs in Nigeria is enormous and has led to treatment failures, organ damage and toxicity, death, economic loss, as well as loss of confidence in health care system in Nigeria.
To sanitise the system and restore people’s confidence in the local health sector, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the country’s food and drugs regulatory agency, working with stakeholders, set out plans to reduce substandard and falsified medicines to not more than 5 percent prevalence in Nigeria, by year 2025. The global prevalence is 10 percent.
That effort of NAFDAC and its stakeholders has started yielding fruit, as Aba patent medicine dealers, under the aegis of EKUMI Plaza Patent Medicine Dealers Association (EPPMDA), Tuesday, August 20, 2024, voluntarily handed over counterfeit and expired medicines estimated to about ₦50million to the food and drugs regulatory agency for destruction.
The action is in line with the order of the Federal Government, represented by NAFDAC to ensure that expired and unwholesome drugs are removed from the market for the safety of consumers.
Chima Amadi, president, EKUMI Patent Medicine. Dealers Association, in an interview, prior to the handover ceremony, said that members voluntarily handed over the medicines to its taskforce for destruction.
Amadi, who is barely a year old in office, as the president of EPPMDA, said: “We promised to do the right things and that was why we set up a taskforce to sanitise the market.”
He said that the mandate of the taskforce was to ensure that there is no fake or expired drug in the market, hence they go round the market every quarter to mop up such drugs and hand same over to NAFDAC for destruction.
He also said that the market authorities have a mandate to handover any member, who is found culpable in stocking fake or expired drugs to NAFDAC for prosecution.
“We promised NAFDAC that we will hand over any member, who sells fake drugs to them for prosecution. NAFDAC warned us not dispose of expired or fake drugs that it is their duty to do so. So, our members voluntarily brought these drugs for NAFDAC to destroy.
“Drugs expires every 3 to 5 years, so once it expires, we mop it up and hand it over to NAFDAC and so you won’t find unwholesome drugs in EKUMI after this exercise,” he stated.
Aloysius Enyoghasi, grand patron of all medicine dealers in Aba, commended the leadership of EPAMDA, for deciding to make a move of self-cleansing and prioritising the health of the customers ahead of profits.
“When I discovered that the leadership of the market is collaborating with NAFDAC on their activities, I became proud of them. I’m in full support of this move, because it will restore the confidence of our people and help to save lives.
“This is a great move. I’m happy to see dealers obey the leadership, by bringing out these failed and expired drugs for NAFDAC to destroy. It is a beautiful day for me, as one who has been in this business for over 30years.”
He congratulated the traders for being useful. “I can comfortably urge customers to see this market, as safe for them to purchase NAFDAC approved medicines.”
For James Nwaogu, secretary, EPAMDA, the sanitisation of the market although a directive of NAFDAC, is equally a move that came out of the desire of the traders to do the right thing.
“We started this exercise about three months ago. We moved from shop to shop, gathering what you see here today, using our unbiased taskforce. Although the majority of our people willingly gave out these drugs, it is more of voluntary exercise.
“Our job is not to throw the drugs away. Our job is to gather them and invite NAFDAC to do whatever they want with it, which is to burn them. We actually purged ourselves to clean this place,” he said.
Modestus Duru, a spiritual leader in the market, praised the traders for deciding to do the right thing, which he said is pleasing to both God and man.
“We need to continue the exercise. About a month ago, in a meeting, I spoke to them about issues like this. Don’t give people poison in the name of business. I’m happy that many of them willingly decided to go into their stores, ransacked them and brought out these drugs for NAFDAC to destroy. I commend them and call on others elsewhere to fear God, love and respect humanity.”
Martins Iluyomade, director, South-East zone of NAFDAC, who represented the director general of the agency, praised the traders for heeding the advice of NAFDAC, to sell only registered drugs.
He however, advised the traders to imbibe good distribution practices to store and sustain the efficacy of the drugs.
Iluyomade appreciated the Ekumi Patent Medicine Dealers Association for the move to carry out self-sanitisation within the market complex.
He assured them that a move such as this one, will attract more patrons to them, stressing that the best people to regulate an association are the members of that association.
He observed that for a people that have been into business for so many years that they know the intricacies and urged them to use their experiences to make things better in the market.
He urged them to ensure that only registered and wholesome products are sold in the market.
“Since your slogan is ‘health is wealth.’ The first thing that should be on your minds, while selling drugs is how the drugs will help the consumer, who you are selling it to. We are having serious treatment failures in the country today.
“A lot of people die, as a result of intake of fake drugs. Mind you, that money you make, through the sale of fake drugs is blood money, because a whole lot of people die, as a result of fake drugs,” he said.
While commending the taskforce for doing a good job, he advised them to not to use their position to victimise others.
“Taskforce of Ekumi Plaza should not be used to attack perceived enemies. They should work with rules and regulations of NAFDAC. I’m happy they’ve been working before we came. It should not be a taskforce of bias.
“They should not be politicised. It must focus on the work they’re set up to do. It may be painful to some people, but it’ll give this plaza a good name,” he said.
