Safe Medicines Foundation Refutes Claim Of 70% Fake Drugs In Nigeria


Chioma Umeha

Safe Medicine Foundation has debunked rumours making rounds that 70 per cent of drugs in Nigeria are fake, saying that it completely supports the position of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on the matter.
A statement made available to journalists in Lagos, attributed the false rumour to misinformation arising from the presentation of Dr. Andrew Nevin of PwC, the keynote address speaker of the 91st Annual National Conference of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) held in Umuahia, Abia state.
According to the statement signed by Dr. Ifeanyi Okechukwu, Executive Director, Safe Medicines Foundation; “This wrong information misquoted, Dr. Andrew Nevin of PwC, the keynote address speaker of the 91st Annual National Conference of PSN held in Umuahia, Abia 2017.
“Instead of writing 17 per cent of fake medicines, the figure was exaggerated and given out last year.”
It noted that it is vital for the media to do thorough research and be factual on a complex information concerning the dominance of fake and substandard drugs in the country and avoid hurrying to misinform health conscious Nigerians and portray the pharmaceutical industry in bad light.
The statement lamented; “We are concerned and perturbed that this same wrong figure keeps reemerging again.
“NAFDAC on their part is already taking the lead on drug regulatory agency in Africa and the achievement of this agency in the past 25 years has led to great confidence in Nigeria made pharmaceutical products in Africa and Europe.
“The staffs and management also are giving their best to ensure that the health of the nation is safeguarded.
“To keep improving these, the government needs to encourage the Agency with adequate funding and good will of the public so as to have the ability of functioning as a modern regulatory body.
“Safe Medicine Foundation led by Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, the Immediate past president of the pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), is a public health group that is dedicated to the safety of all pharmaceutical products and protecting consumers against fake drugs,” it said.

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