Tag: Counterfeit

  • Counterfeit drugs threaten Nigerians’ health

    Counterfeit drugs threaten Nigerians’ health

    Nigeria’s shambolic healthcare delivery system is under renewed attack from several fronts. Apart from frequent outbreaks of diseases, dependence on imported medicines and the exodus of medical professionals, the influx of fake and substandard drugs has become a deluge, causing illnesses, disabilities and deaths in Nigeria and other West African countries. The government needs to urgently reinvigorate its strategy to protect the people from the scourge of counterfeit drugs.

    Assailed by outbreaks of cholera, Lassa fever, and diphtheria, among others, in several of its constituent parts, and with a weak health system, fake drugs are compounding the misery of Nigerians and the sub-region. A new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime underscores the consequences of the influx. It said substandard drugs kill 500,000 persons in sub-Saharan Africa each year. As many as 267,000 deaths per year, it said, are linked to falsified and substandard anti-malarial medicines, the transnational organised crime threat assessment found.

    In addition, up to 169,271 deaths are linked to falsified and substandard antibiotics used to treat severe pneumonia in children. Recent alerts from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control warn of adulterated cough syrups, antibiotics and other children’s remedies in the market.

    Counterfeit drugs are a deadly and growing problem globally, particularly in developing nations where supply chain security is limited, undermining progress towards meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Nigeria’s case is dire.

    While experts estimate that about 10 per cent of drugs in circulation worldwide are fake, a report in Bayero University, Kano’s Journal of Basic and Clinical Sciences (2017) suggested that between 41 and 50 per cent of drugs in Nigeria were substandard. To this, however, NAFDAC insists that it is no more than 15 per cent prevalence. On the average, the World Health Organisation says one in 10 medical products circulating in developing nations is substandard.

    Stronger action is therefore needed to stamp out the menace. Apart from effective monitoring, surveillance, testing, intelligence, and interdiction, special attention should be paid to disrupting the sources of the fake drugs, their conveyance routes, and their distribution outlets.

    Indications are that the larger bulk of dangerous medicines originate from China and India. This requires strong collaboration among the regulators, security and diplomatic agencies. Nigeria should send a strong message to both countries that it will no longer tolerate being a dumping ground for killer medicines.

    Nigeria and other African countries should adopt proactive measures. Of all the fake drugs reported to the WHO between 2013 and 2017, 42 per cent of the reports came from the African region. In March 2019, the WHO raised alerts to fake meningitis vaccines in Niger Republic and fake hypertension drugs in Cameroon. In August, falsified versions of the antibiotic, Augmentin, were discovered in Uganda and Kenya.

    Similarly, the WHO estimates that caring for people who have used falsified or substandard medical products for malaria treatment in sub-Saharan Africa costs between $12 million and $44.7 million every year. With 191,890 deaths, Nigeria accounted for 31 per cent of global deaths from malaria in 2021, the agency revealed. Fake malaria drugs contribute to the toll.

    International law enforcement operations saw more than 605 tonnes of medical products seized in West Africa between January 2017 and December 2021, said UNODC, but this is not enough.

    Seized fake drugs for destruction. File photo

    Counterfeit medicines have both health and economic consequences for the continent, removing money from healthcare systems and killing thousands of people, mostly in vulnerable communities.

    The federal and state governments should continuously develop innovative anti-counterfeiting measures to secure the country’s medicine supply chain. Particular attention should be paid to stimulating domestic production and achieving self-sufficiency in basic, life-saving medicines.

    Among other factors, the difficulty in combating counterfeit medicines stems from poor drug traceability, which relates to poor infrastructure, inadequate resource allocation to routine quality control, and poor tracking across borders. The UN cited porous national borders as one of the factors responsible for the booming business in counterfeit drugs.

    Also, Africa’s lack of official data collection for counterfeit medicines, and viewing healthcare and corruption as two distinct areas of public policy, enable criminals to traffic counterfeit drugs.

    International calls for tougher sentences on drug fakers are getting louder, particularly in Nigeria. The government needs to introduce legislation with much tougher criminal penalties and enforce them to deter counterfeiters and restore sanity to the medicine supply chains.

    Apart from China and India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom form the biggest chains of drug supply to Nigeria. Embarrassingly, many pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria have become mere marketers or distributors of drugs produced abroad. There should be a shift to promoting ‘made-in-Nigeria’ via the pharmaceutical sub-sector through incentives and a better operating business environment.

    Following NAFDAC’s dogged fight against fake drugs locally and abroad on the late Dora Akunyili’s watch as director-general, drugs manufactured in the country gained international acceptance. With increased demand, productive capacity invariably rose too, adding to the country’s GDP. This should be the national target today. The various governments should reverse the infrastructure deficit, end multiple taxation and levies, and tackle the energy crises that currently add 40 per cent to production costs, according to manufacturers.

    NAFDAC must rise to the challenge. It should deliver on its proposed five-year Traceability Implementation Plan in line with the objectives of the Nigeria Pharmaceutical Traceability Strategy, to achieve supply chain visibility and strengthen interventions against the scourge of substandard and falsified medicines.

    There should be close collaboration among all stakeholders, including regulators, professional and trade associations, producers, importers, and security agencies. Safeguarding Nigerians from the fake drugs deluge should be a national priority.

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  • Merchants of counterfeit phones nabbed in Kano

    The enforcement team of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has arrested representatives of three companies responsible for the sale of counterfeit as well as non-type-approved devices in Kano, Kano State.

    The team arrested Yahaya Ado of Gezawa Communications Limited for selling counterfeit Gionee devices and not being able to show any evidence of authorization granted to the company by the Commission.  Messrs Nura Ahmed of Saleh Latest Venture and Rufai Nuhu of Al Mansoor Communications were also arrested because they were not licensed to engage in the sales and installation of terminal equipment and were unable to show any evidence of authorization from the Commission in that connection.

    The merchants of counterfeit devices have been handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for investigation and further necessary action.

    Read Also: IPOB’s teenage ‘member’ arrested in Katsina

    The NCC’s Head of Enforcement, Mallam Salisu Abdu, who led the team, expressed concerns at how the GSM Market on Beirut Street, Kano, was awash with counterfeit and non-type approved phones.

    He bemoaned the fact that many of the vendors were not licensed by the Commission to provide such communication service they rendered.

    The Commission is determined to carry out post-enforcement checks to ensure that the sale of counterfeit devices is stopped. The NCC will collaborate with market associations to ensure that appropriate licences are obtained by vendors and assist in apprehending the major dealers and suppliers of counterfeit devices.

    The non-type-approved phones found during the enforcement include Gionee branded phones with model numbers G800, and L990; H-Mobile phones with model numbers it5606+, H351; FoxKong with model numbers F30, F300; and KGTEL phones with model numbers K2160 and KG1100.

    The Commission therefore cautioned consumers against the patronage and use of devices that have not been typed approved and counterfeit devices, strongly warning that such devices negatively affect the quality of experience while leaving their users vulnerable to losses and other discomforts.

  • Counterfeit, substandard products, threat to health –NAFDAC 

    Counterfeit, substandard products, threat to health –NAFDAC 

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has advised Nigerians against the use of counterfeit, substandard products.

    According to the agency, counterfeit and substandard products are not only injurious to human health but also remain one of the major obstacles to economic growth and productivity.

    Mr. Muyiddin Suleiman, the Coordinator, NAFDAC, Kebbi State Office, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Birnin Kebbi on Friday.

    He, however, said that counterfeit and substandard chemicals and drugs were not commonly found in Kebbi because the state was not a huge market for medicine, yet its effects were encompassing.

    The coordinator explained that based on their experiences during surveillances in the neighbourhood, they didn’t have problem with counterfeit products.

    On how the agency gathers intelligence, Suleiman said they usually receive alerts and communications from companies through their headquarters and sometimes from international organisations.

    “Because the problem of counterfeit and substandard products is not just a Nigerian problem but a global challenge.

    “So, as a regulatory agency we receive alerts from manufacturers through our agency and when we receive such we work on it.

    “More often than not, probably because of the factor I have told you earlier, Kebbi is not a huge market for drugs, most of the time we don’t come across this problem,” he said.

    The coordinator also said that the agency was always on the field for regular checks to ensure that substandard products were not in circulation within the society.

    He assured that even if those with ill will against Nigerians smuggled it into the society, they would be discouraged because they would not have market for it.

    “Because when we see such counterfeit drugs, we don’t only remove them but we investigate the source and report to the appropriate quaters who now take investigative actions and when established, they will take punitive action.

    “But like I told you, every society has deviants and people who derive pleasure in making people cry, recently we have an alert of counterfeit amoxicillin clavulanic combination capsules which are commonly called augmentin in circulation.

    “But in the whole of seven local government areas of Kebbi that we have investigated so far, we found this drug in only one shop and the marketer claimed ignorance about the product, that the product looked like the original and didn’t suspect, we are still investigating,” he assured. 

    (NAN)