Leadership (Abuja)
Sunday Isuwa
23 February 2008
Abuja — In its determination to eradicate the sale of fake drugs in the country, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Taskforce on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs (TFC&FD) has called on the public to desist from buying drugs from unregistered pharmacists stressing that "fake drugs are more vicious than the scourge of malaria and HIV/AIDS."
Making the call at a one-day public enlightenment campaign on the dangers of selling and buying fake drugs held at Utako motor park Abuja, the secretary TFC&FC, Hajiya Hauwa Kulu Ibrahim, stated that fake Paracetamol syrup, killed about 109 children a day in 1991.
She said that the case was reported from various hospitals which include UCH Ibadan and JUTH Jos, where the children were killed as a result of fake drugs.
Hajiya Ibrahim, however, said that the aim of the enlightenment campaign was to sensitise the people to know the dangers of buying and selling fake drugs, saying, "Campaign on fake drugs should not be a one-person business, because people ought to buy the product from safer places. Once you buy your product from a registered pharmaceutical shop, you would be sure of the product you are buying.
"Investigation has shown that this illegal outlet are the sellers of fake drugs, because they know that at the end of the day, they would close shops. If you buy a product in a registered pharmacy, you are 99 percent sure of the product you are buying." Hajiya Ibrahim said.
Speaking earlier, the representative of NAFDAC and member TFC&FD, Pharmacist Bola Yusuf, described fake drugs as drug with insufficient active ingredient of 95 per cent.
Drugs with no active ingredient, drugs without names and addresses of the manufacturers, drugs with ingredients different from what is stated on the label, expired drugs, as well as the one that is not registered by NAFDAC, are fake drugs" Yusuf stated.
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