NAFDAC destroys N4.7 billion price of expired alcohol, cosmetics, different prescription drugs
The Nationwide Company for Meals and Drug Administration and Management (NAFDAC) has destroyed counterfeit, expired, and substandard prescription drugs resembling alcohol, cosmetics, others valued at N4.7 billion throughout Nigeria’s South-South area, the company introduced on Friday.
The destruction train, performed at a waste disposal web site in Port Harcourt, underscores the company’s intensified efforts to rid the market of harmful medical merchandise and unwholesome shopper items.
The company’s Director Common, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who was represented on the occasion by Chukwuma Oligbu, NAFDAC’s South-South zonal director, mentioned the confiscated objects had been seized from Rivers, Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states.
“After a correctly coordinated surveillance, the warehouses had been raided and merchandise confiscated.
‘’Additionally, by this operation, a warehouse of unregistered cosmetics merchandise was raided and merchandise price a number of thousands and thousands of naira had been confiscated.
“Seized unregistered imported vegetable oil with out Vitamin A fortification and various unregistered cosmetics merchandise from Delta state had been additionally among the many merchandise destroyed,” Adeyeye mentioned.
Among the many destroyed objects had been falsified medical merchandise, expired medicine, substandard meals components, and unregistered cosmetics. A few of these merchandise had been voluntarily surrendered by producers and distributors, whereas others had been seized by coordinated enforcement actions.
NAFDAC’s investigations led to the invention of a number of illicit warehouses in Port Harcourt, the place expired alcoholic drinks had been being fraudulently re-labelled and reintroduced into the market.
The company additionally uncovered a big cache of unregistered cosmetics and imported vegetable oil that lacked required vitamin A fortification, a key meals security commonplace in Nigeria.
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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) contributed considerably to the operation by handing over two 40-foot transport containers full of unregistered and substandard prescription drugs intercepted in Edo State.
Authorities from a number of enforcement companies, together with the Nigeria Police Power, the Division of State Safety, the Nationwide Drug Regulation Enforcement Company, and the Nigeria Safety and Civil Defence Corps, collaborated within the operation.
The Rivers State Waste Administration Company and native fireplace companies additionally assisted within the destruction course of.
Adeyeye emphasised the general public well being dangers posed by counterfeit medicine and unwholesome merchandise, warning that their circulation may result in therapy failures, drug resistance, extended sicknesses, and even fatalities.
She urged shoppers to stay vigilant and report suspicious actions associated to the distribution of unregulated medical and shopper merchandise.
Dignitaries on the occasion included senior officers from Nigeria’s drug enforcement and customs companies, representatives from pharmacists’ associations, and native commerce unions.
NAFDAC reiterated its dedication to making sure that solely secure and high-quality medical and shopper merchandise attain the Nigerian market.
The company warned that violators would face strict enforcement measures as a part of its ongoing crackdown on counterfeit items.