NAFDAC links MDGs failure to fake drugs

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has identified the proliferation of counterfeit drugs as one of the factors militating against the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
The agency maintained that the United Nations’ MDGs 4, 5 and 6, which advocates for reduction in maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, have been weakened by the menace of fake drugs.
Its Director General, Dr. Paul Orhii, who addressed the National Association of Patent Proprietary Medicine Dealers, Delta State chapter, said the explosion of fake and counterfeit drugs has since posed serious threat to MDGs attainment.
The Director General, represented by the NAFDAC Coordinator in Delta State, Esther Aburime, at seminar, tagged: “Fight Against Fake and Substandard Regulated Products – A Fight for All”, organized by Christabel International in conjunction with NAFDAC in Asaba and Ughelli, called on NAPPMED to contribute to the fight against fake products by reporting such to NAFDAC.
According to Orhii, the danger posed by fake and counterfeit drugs to these goals as well as the overall public health was responsible for several health problems, including treatment failure, organs and system failure, economic loss, sickness and death.
He said: “You can contribute by reporting the ones you see; avoiding fake products so that the perpetrators will not flourish in the business and buying products from authenticated sources; and obtaining letter headed receipts of purchase.”
He said that NAFDAC/WHO/DFID survey in 2006 showed that the incidence of counterfeit medicines has reduced from 48 per cent in 2001 to 16 per cent in 2006.
He acknowledged NAFDAC as the foremost regulatory agency in the deployment of cutting age-technologies in combating counterfeit medicines such as Truscan, Mobile Authentication Service and Radio Frequency Identification Service.
While Orhii warned Patent Medicine Dealers against the sale of expired medicines and urged them to report all Adverse Drug Reactions (on ADR forms) to NAFDAC office and support NAFDAC-Desk officers in the local government areas and NAFDAC-CDS corps-member groups to eradicate drug hawking, the facilitator of the seminar, Christabel Okoye, of Christabel International enjoined NAPPMED members to assist NAFDAC in the fight against adulteration and faking of products for a better Nigeria.