Asaba — Director- General of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said, yesterday, that the agency had undergone internal restructuring to reposition it to better fight against fake and counterfeit drugs and other regulated products by increasing the number of its Directorate to 13, with six zonal offices and additional three laboratories.

Dr. Orhii, in Asaba, Delta State, during the inauguration of NAFDAC Local Government Desk Officers, said: "The agency is determined to wipe out, in their entirety, drug counterfeiting, faking and all other offences relating to the importation, exportation, manufacture, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of regulated products in Nigeria."

Represented by NAFDAC Coordinator in the state, Ms Esther Aburime, Orhii said the agency was seeking collaboration with the local governments in the use of public address systems and town criers to disseminate regulatory information, such as dangers of drug hawking and illegal advertisement of herbal drugs, in their various dialects.

He observed that NAFDAC's collaboration with local and international agencies was to ensure that its mandate was achieved, noting, "pharmaceutical counterfeits in Nigeria are estimated to be 17 percent and are mostly imported."