NAFDAC destroys N120m drugs in Abuja

The drugs set on fire in Bwari Area Council include those considered expired, spurious, substandard, falsely labelled, falsified or counterfeit.Most expired products were voluntarily submitted, while fake and unwholesome products were “mopped up from the open market” using enforcement and surveillance, said Dr Paul Orhii, Director-General of NAFDAC.He said the agency deployed strategies, including three […]

The drugs set on fire in Bwari Area Council include those considered expired, spurious, substandard, falsely labelled, falsified or counterfeit.
Most expired products were voluntarily submitted, while fake and unwholesome products were “mopped up from the open market” using enforcement and surveillance, said Dr Paul Orhii, Director-General of NAFDAC.
He said the agency deployed strategies, including three new technologies it has championed in recent months, to identify fakes.
It is also canvassing “stiffer penalties” for violators, said Orhii.
The ageny’s inspection teams combed chemists, pharmacies and drug hawkers to seize offending products.
Among them are antibiotics, painkillers, food supplements, syringes, test-tubes, multivitamins and aphrodisiacs.
Bridget Otote, chairperson of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in Abuja pledged support of pharmacists to continued removal of expired and fake products from supply.