Flowerbudnews
By Kemi Akintokun
Lagos: Some health experts have described as unfounded some trending messages by some people who alleged that the intake of a popular anti-malaria drug, ‘P-Alaxin’, caused the death of an individual.
The experts, who spoke at the ‘Brand Awareness for Improved Therapy’ programme organised by Greenlife Pharmaceuticals Limited in Lagos, noted that such claim was ‘a false alarm’.
According to them, the claim that the said drug is deadly should be ignored because it is misinformation targeted at tarnishing the product.
Prof. Arinola Joda of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), noted that P-Alaxin is a good anti-malaria brand.
He said the drug,bknown for convenient dosing, was very effective because people did not come down with malaria quickly, after usage.
Joda added that the drug, which also offered post-treatment benefit for more than 60 days, was very affordable for end users.
She said, ”Information being spread about the product causing kidney disease is false and erroneous.
”People should discard the false information whenever they get it as it is not only erroneous, but is fake in its entirety.
”I call it ‘fast fingers syndrome’, so people should desist from broadcasting a message they are yet to verify so that by the time the truth is established, they can feel happy for not sharing it.
”In any instance of the adverse effect that people may experience with any pharma product, they should endeavour to approach the pharmacovigilance unit of NAFDAC to report, so that legitimate claim can be analysed.”
Similarly, Lawrence Ekhator, a pharmacist, frowned at the perpetrators of the fake message, stressing that P-Alaxin had been approved by NAFDAC for malaria treatment in Nigeria.
Ekhator who is the Lagos State chaoter Chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), added that P-Alaxin was a trusted brand which he used and recommended as a professional over the years.
”A lot of my clients have attested to the fact that the product is a positive and good brand that helps in the treatment of acute malaria in the country.
”Although things like this are not new to us in the country and it cannot be stopped because there are people out there that obviously thrive on disinformation.
”The only thing is for the brand to continually make sure that anything affecting their brand is adequately curtailed immediately it’s put out there,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Dr Wilfred Okolie, the Marketing Manager, Greenlife Pharmaceutical Limited, said the objectives of the brand awareness programme was to address the misinformation among experts and put it to rest.
Okolie said that the ‘P-Alaxin hoax’ was first released in 2019 with a text message from an unknown and faceless source aiming to rubbish the efficacy and efficiency of the brand.
He said, ”P-Alaxin is approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC).
”And there is no information on the major media platforms in the country that indicated that the drug has been responsible for the death of those who use it.
”The fake news about P-Alaxin is not new and that is why we came up with the brand awareness programme to address this fake rumour about the drug.”
According to him, malaria kills millions of humans every year.
He also said that there were increasing number of resistant cases to antimalarials, including some Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs).
Recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), ACTs are used as a first-line malaria therapy in countries where malaria occurs regularly.
Okolie said that it was the responsibility of all healthcare professionals to protect the integrity of the few ACTs that were still effective.
He noted that P-Alaxin, being one of the safest and most efficacious ACTs with clinical evidence, should be protected by all. (NAN)(nannews.ng)/Flowerbudnews
