Leadership (Abuja)
Winifred Ogbebo
21 August 2008
A renowned Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Jos, Prof Elijah Sokomba, has said that the problem of adulterated and fake drugs is still very pronounced in the country in spite of the efforts of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other regulatory agencies to tackle the problem.
"NAFDAC is doing a lot, but it cannot do everything. We should be ready to do things the right way," Sokomba told LEADERSHIP in an exclusive interview.
"When somebody goes to China and asks them to put one-third ingredients instead of the full amount of the ingredients, NAFDAC cannot control that one.
"It is attitudinal change that is needed from our people, because the unfortunate thing is that money comes first in every- thing in our own situation, even at the expense of human life."
Sokomba also spoke on the dearth of pharmacists in the nation's health sector.
"The number of pharmacists, when compared to the population of this country, is still very low," he said.
"That is why you see everybody is thinking that they can sell drugs and even those who know nothing about drugs, they are selling one type of drug or the other.
"If we have sufficient number of pharmacists, I am sure people will prefer to patronize those who would give them standard attention.
"Patients or clients would prefer to go where they would get standard attention than to go to pharmacists where the person doesn't really know much about the products," he added.
The pharmacist advised pharmacists to go a step further to make sure that the patient who is taking the drugs gets maximum benefit from the drug, saying the patient should be able to derive maximum benefit from taking the drug.
On whether he is comfortable with the budgetary allocation for the health sector, Sokomba said, "I think government is trying to meet the World Health Organisation provisions on healthcare in terms of budgeting.
"But you can only work within the resources available, government can only work within the resources available. So I think we are making progress."
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