Addressing Nigeria’s Counterfeit Drug Disaster
By Arafat A. Abdulrazaq,
The resurgence of counterfeit medication in Nigeria isn’t just a well being disaster; it’s a nationwide emergency. Regardless of previous victories in combating the illicit drug commerce, faux medicines have more and more infiltrated pharmacies, markets, and even hospitals, endangering lives and eroding public belief within the healthcare system.
In response to PubMed Central, over 70% of medicine in Nigeria are imported, primarily from international locations like India and China—each vital sources of counterfeit medicines. These faux medication are not confined to open drug markets or backstreet distributors; they’ve now permeated mainstream provide chains.
From important antibiotics to life-saving most cancers remedies, no class of treatment is immune. In the meantime, native manufacturing has surged, with underground operations churning out substandard medication disguised as respected manufacturers.
Corruption at ports and weak worldwide commerce enforcement additional allow this inflow, compounding the problem. Lately, the Nationwide Company for Meals and Drug Administration and Management (NAFDAC) destroyed counterfeit medication value ₦100 billion on the Moniya dump website in Akinyele Native Authorities Space of Oyo State.
Seized from pharmaceutical entrepreneurs at Lagos’s Idumota market, these faux medicines signify solely a fraction of the illicit commerce. The implications are dire. Sufferers unknowingly eat these harmful merchandise, which are sometimes ineffective or poisonous.
This has led to quite a few deaths from treatable illnesses like malaria and typhoid, as inactive or dangerous medicines fail to ship the supposed treatment. Past the human toll, the financial impression is substantial. The pharmaceutical business loses billions of naira yearly to counterfeit commerce, discouraging funding in native drug manufacturing.
Extra critically, the credibility of Nigeria’s healthcare system is at stake, as public confidence continues to wane. Companies like NAFDAC have had notable successes up to now. Dr. Dora Akunyili, considered one of Nigeria’s most celebrated public servants, served as NAFDAC’s Director-Normal from 2001 to 2008.
Throughout her tenure, she lowered the circulation of counterfeit medication from 60% to 16%. Her strategy was each strategic and aggressive: she launched a nationwide crackdown on counterfeit drug producers and distributors, collaborating with native and worldwide regulation enforcement to dismantle provide chains and prosecute offenders.
Beneath her management, NAFDAC destroyed giant portions of faux medication, shut down unlawful manufacturing crops, and tightened regulatory oversight at ports and border crossings. Dr. Akunyili’s campaign got here at a private price. Her unwavering dedication made her a goal of threats and assassination makes an attempt by highly effective figures inside counterfeit drug networks.
Learn Additionally:
In the present day, the present Director-Normal, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, faces comparable challenges. In a latest interview, she lamented the private toll of the job, revealing that she now requires round the clock police safety. She additionally disclosed that heightened enforcement by NAFDAC just lately led to the seizure of 87 truckloads of substandard and expired medical merchandise, together with antiretroviral medication, condoms, and different compromised provides.
This crackdown, performed at main drug markets in Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba, resulted within the confiscation of faux medication valued at over ₦1 trillion—the most important seizure within the company’s historical past. Some argue that counterfeiters exploit the system as a result of insufficient regulatory frameworks and weak enforcement mechanisms.
In an handle to the Nationwide Meeting, Prof. Adeyeye referred to as for pressing amendments to the NAFDAC Act N1 LFN and the Counterfeit and Pretend Medication and Unwholesome Processed Meals C34 Act, proposing life imprisonment and even the loss of life penalty as punishments for offenders.
Counterfeiters additionally make the most of technological gaps. Though NAFDAC launched measures just like the Cellular Authentication Service (MAS), which permits shoppers to confirm medication through SMS codes, many faux medication now function subtle packaging and holograms, making them almost indistinguishable from real merchandise.
The battle hinges on who can higher leverage the most recent expertise and act extra swiftly. In an interview with The Punch, NAFDAC officers highlighted insufficient staffing and poor funding as main constraints. “One of many staple items wanted for efficient enforcement is logistics. We’d like a whole lot of autos—utility autos, a truck on standby—so that after we seize merchandise, we do not need to rent vans,” one official mentioned.
He additional famous {that a} lack of funding was affecting the company’s effectivity. “For our latest operation, virtually all accessible workers needed to be mobilized, leaving different areas uncared for.” Earlier in January, Prof. Adeyeye reiterated that NAFDAC was severely understaffed.
She acknowledged, “Based mostly on our inhabitants, we must always have a minimum of 10,000 workers. Proper now, we have now about 2,000. We burn candles at each ends and overstretch ourselves as a result of we should safeguard the well being of Nigerians. We aren’t asking for 10,000 workers instantly; we’re simply asking for double or triple what we at the moment have.”
The resurgence of counterfeit medication in Nigeria is a ticking time bomb, threatening the well being and security of tens of millions. Whereas NAFDAC’s efforts are commendable, the struggle in opposition to these “retailers of loss of life” requires a united entrance. Authorities companies, pharmaceutical corporations, healthcare professionals, and the general public should all play a task in eradicating this menace.
Till then, counterfeit medication will stay a silent killer, lurking in pharmacies and drug shops, ready to assert extra harmless lives.
Arafat A. Abdulrazaq is a corps member on the Middle for Disaster Communication and might be reached at: [email protected]
