The National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has decried the rising rate of secondary school students involved in drug abuse in the country.
NAFDAC director for South-South zone, Pharmacist Chukwuma Oligbo, disclosed this yesterday while speaking at the 2024 sensitisation and awareness campaign on sub-standard and falsified medical products in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Representatives of the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Medical Association, and the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria attended the campaign, amongst others.
Oligbo described medical products as vital and pivotal to healthcare delivery in society, pointing out that their availability and affordability have become challenging due to the country’s current economic situation.
He said, “Medical products are an integral and pivotal part of health delivery. They need to be available, affordable, and quality assured. But on this side of this divide, affordability, availability, and quality have become a great challenge, particularly now that there is an economic downturn in Nigeria.
“Global economic crisis has had a great impact on the availability of quality drugs because when they are available, the prices are hitting the ceiling.”
In her presentation, the head, Post-Market Surveillance, Dr. Regina Garba, accused pharmacies in the country of selling medical products that are not certified by NAFDAC.
Garba insisted that the fight against substandard and falsified drugs was the fight to save Nigeria, saying the agency’s actions are based on the mandate given to it by the federal government.