Sodiq Ojuroungbe
Cancer survivors in Nigeria have called on the Federal Government to intensify efforts in combating the surge in fake drugs, which they said have become a major threat to their lives.
The survivors, under the auspices of the Network of People Impacted by Cancer in Nigeria, lamented the high cost of cancer drugs and the menace of counterfeiting worsening the inadequate access to quality treatment and care.
The NePiCiN President, Mrs. Gloria Orji while speaking with journalists in Lagos, urged the government to do everything possible to alleviate the burden of cancer patients, including the high cost of drugs and counterfeit drugs.
Orji added that the dangers posed by counterfeit drugs for cancer patients include worsening their condition, as well as draining their purses.
“Because we’re not just battling the cost of drugs, we are talking about life here. You don’t have a second chance. So, please, it’s quite appalling how things have been going. And I think this needs to be on the front burner now. It should be talked about. Unfortunately, no one is talking about this and I believe we, as the patients, should be the ones to talk about it.
“Personally, I do not see any advantage of these fake drugs because they do a lot of harm and no good. Sometimes, the doctors are even confused because they are wondering why the drug is not working. When you get a drug and find out it’s not working, a higher one is recommended and you spend more than you would ordinarily, ” she stated.
Speaking further, the NePiCiN president stressed, “Generally it is devastating because you would have spent more than your expectation and you would be confused because your life is at stake and you don’t even know what you are taking in.”
Orji also shared her personal experience of unknowingly taking counterfeit hormonal drugs post-diagnosis in 2013, which resulted in complications.
She, however, noted that not many people were lucky to survive such an experience.
She emphasised the need for direct sourcing of drugs from manufacturers by government agencies, such as the National Health Insurance Authority, to curb counterfeiting.
She noted that the government could license the NHIA to oversee this.
By taking decisive action against counterfeit drugs, the NePiCiN president argued that the government can safeguard the lives of cancer patients and improve access to quality treatment and care.
She added, “We are talking about life here. Any mistake is costly. If the government puts its feet down we can get it right.
“There are so many agencies like NAFDAC, FCCPC, NHIA which I believe could be used to get those drugs from the source. When we go to the hospital, all medications are expected to be sourced within the hospital as patients are not allowed to source for the drugs themselves.
“NHIA should ensure that the medications are sourced directly from the manufacturers; by doing this, patients have been saved from the risk of fake drugs. These are the policies that the government should think of adopting.”
“You need to be aware that non-pharmacists are beginning to act as agents to sell these drugs and this is because national hospitals allow these drugs to come in from wherever.
“The government should be decisive on this. If we notice, most cancer cases result in death but if we do proper research, we will discover that the cause of the death in some cases, is not the cancer itself,” she argued.
The NePiCiN president blamed the lack of reliable data as a major challenge in cancer management in Nigeria.
She lamented that the country mostly relied on the World Health Organisation for data.
“We are left with what WHO gives to us. As of 2020, out of a million deaths, 20 per cent of deaths are caused by counterfeit drugs. The thing keeps increasing and is not checked anywhere.
“As we speak, one out of every six medications in Nigeria is fake. That is how bad it is. Also, because of the complexities and people involved in counterfeiting, the majority is coming from India,” she stated.
A member of NePiCiN, Dozie Akwarandu, lamented that fake drugs contributed significantly to the increasing rate of drug resistance, stressing that this adversely impacted cancer patients’ treatment.
Akwarandu, who shared his experience with fake pain relief drugs, emphasised the need for regulatory agencies to intensify efforts to rid Nigeria of counterfeit drugs.
“From my personal experience, mine wasn’t a cancer or chemotherapy drug; rather it was a pain relief drug. During the treatment stage, I was using a branded drug and after about 10 days of using it, I lost consciousness. After recovery, I discovered that the pain relief drug prescribed to me was fake,” he revealed.
Decrying drug counterfeiting as a global problem, Akwarandu said the World Health Organisation as of 2017 estimated that fake drugs accounted for 10.5 per cent of drugs worldwide with middle-income countries contributing a higher percentage to the production of counterfeit medicines.
He called on NAFDAC and other regulatory agencies to double their efforts in a bid to rid Nigeria of the production, importation, distribution, and marketing of counterfeit drugs.
He also advocated stringent implementation of extant laws and the deployment of technology to checkmate the menace.
He charged the Pharmacists Registration Council of Nigeria and owners of pharmacies to safeguard the health of Nigerians by ensuring safe storage of drugs and proper disposal of used drug packs to prevent counterfeiters from having access to them.
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