Leadership (Abuja)
Abdulaziz A. Abdulaziz
27 September 2009
Kano — The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Kano branch and the north-west branch, of the Nigerian Association of Industrial Pharmacists (NAIP), have expressed disgust with the approach by the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in its fight against fake drugs.
The groups described NAFDAC's approach as insincere, saying the agency is treating symptoms, while it neglects the root of the problem. The two unions spoke through their Chairman, Malam Ahmed Gana in Kano.
Gana disclosed that instead of arresting the problem of manufacturing fake drugs and their infiltration into the market, NAFDAC is busy organising seminars and "charging us exorbitant amounts."
"They should dismantle these open markets while government should give more subsidies," Gana stated.
He took a swipe at the NAFDAC for its lackadaisical approach that had left it in a state of helplessness, whereby it could not properly fight fake drugs like before.
Making reference to pharmacy and drug laws in Nigeria, as indicated in Decree 25 Section 2 (1), which stipulates penalty for those who sell drugs in unauthorised places, he expressed dissatisfaction with the NAFDAC for not doing enough in the fight against distribution and sale of fake and substandard drugs in the country.
Gana endorsed the call recently made by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong, for life imprisonment for drug counterfeiters, saying that this was the only means to pay such offenders with the same coin.
The chairman said his society had called the press conference to lend its support to what the Kano State government was doing, stressing that apart from establishing the mobile court to try various offenders of drug related issues, it had ensured smooth operation of the mobile court.
He announced the arrest of one Mr. Tony Uche, a suspected fake drug manufacturer, who specialises in faking a drug that consists of Diphenylhydramine hydrochloride with codeine combination often abused by drug addicts.
"We want to lend our support to the effort of this task force that arrested one Mr. Tony Uche. He was arrested with drugs suspected to be fake drugs and alleged to be manufactured by him because there were a lot of unused packets, bottles, labels and unused broken caps. It is only persons that manufacture drugs that can be found to be in possession of these items," he stated.
He said if the NAFDAC were alive to its duties it should have been the agency that would have apprehended the suspect in the first place rather than the Kano State Task Force on Fake Drugs, saying that he has been vindicated by his earlier stand that agency was loosing the war against fake drugs.
Gana hinted that fake drugs were proliferating due to open markets that were available for them in the country. "People are using the advantage of the open market to smuggle in or manufacture fake drugs and sell to unsuspecting consumers," he added.
He urged the Federal Government and the NAFDAC to dismantle all open drug markets across the country to checkmate the proliferation of fake drugs as well as help pharmacists to continue to operate.
"The society is saying that it is illegal for drugs to be sold in open markets that are not licensed by relevant agencies," he added.
He pointed out that all drugs sold in open markets are not secured since there is no laid down procedure for their regulation.
"If government is serious about eradicating fake drugs it should dismantle the open drug markets in Sabon Gari Kano, Idumota in Lagos and Onitsha," he said.
"These are the most important open markets. It is because of the existence of these open markets that people can smuggle in these fake drugs, the open markets are not regulated," he said.
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