Category: Features

Flowerbudnews

By Kemi Akintokun

Lagos, Feb. 23, 2023 (NAN) The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Lagos State branch, has appealed to the Federal Government to stop the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) from collecting exorbitant amount before destroying expired drugs.

Lawrence Ekhator, the Chairman of ACPN Lagos Branch, made the appeal in Lagos during its Annual General Meeting.

According to Ekhator, paying exorbitant amount to NAFDAC for destruction of expired drugs after losing money through expiration of such drugs will amount to double jeopardy.

“We are appealing to the government to intervene in the exorbitant amount we pay to NAFDAC before destroying expired drugs.

“Community Pharmacists in true conscience, cannot pay to destroy a product that we have lost money on through expiration.

“For us, that will amount to double jeopardy, and we cannot afford to do it.

“We decided to voluntarily bring out these expired drugs to be destroyed by NAFDAC as professionals,” he said.

Ekhator urged NAFDAC to revisit its position, noting that failure to do so may encourage sharp practices that can put the lives of Nigerians at risk.

He said that the destruction of expiry drugs should be a seamless process, adding that it was part of NAFDAC statutory mandate to destroy expired drugs.

“There are so many other outlets in open drug markets that do not carry out this exercise. But in a situation where we try to do the right thing and we are slammed with heavy fines for doing the right thing.

“We are calling on NAFDAC and the Ministry of Health to look into this issue and ensure that community pharmacists get the expired drugs destroyed seamlessly,” he said. (NAN) www.nannews.ng /Flowerbudnews

Flowerbudnews

By Olatunde Ajayi

Ibadan:   Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has cautioned Nigerians against continuous use of bleaching creams, saying it poses enormous danger to human health.

Adeyeye spoke at the Media Sensitisation Workshop on the Dangers of Bleaching Creams and Regulatory Control organised for the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists on Friday in Ibadan.

According to her, some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burns and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin ageing and prolonged healing of wounds.

She said that NAFDAC had organised the sensitisation workshop for the health journalists in different zones of Nigeria, in which the South- West edition in Ibadan was the fourth in Nigeria.

“NAFDAC will continue to recognise the partnership, involvement and important roles of journalists in taking message of the dangers in the continuous use of bleaching creams to the grassroots through their various platforms, ” she said.

Adeyeye added that NAFDAC has been carrying out a lot of raids on manufacturers, stores and the bleaching cosmetics products retail outlets in fulfilment of its mandate of safeguarding the health of the nation.

She said that NAFDAC would heighten surveillance on the Spas in the country and raise sensitisation campaign on the dangers in continuous use of the bleaching creams.

“We discovered that many operators of the Spas lack knowledge that mixing up different ingredients, either organic or inorganic to form cosmetics can result to bad effect on the users.

“Nigerian should always know that black is beautiful and they do not need to bleach their skin to please anyone,” she cautioned.

Also, Mrs Roseline Ajayi, the Director, South-West Zone of NAFDAC, stressed the need for NAFDAC to build capacity and strengthen Cosmetovigilance, a concept of safety monitoring of cosmetics products.

According to her, this refers to the post-marketing surveillance of undesirable effects of cosmetics products.

Ajayi added that growing adoption of cosmetics products in developed and developing countries would primarily drive the global market growth of the products.

“The risks associated with cosmetics products has elevated the need for cosmetovigilance services,” she said.

Commenting, Dr Leonard Omokpariola, the Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research, NAFDAC, said that the prolonged usage of cosmetics products could cause harm to human body, either topically or systemically, especially when used or applied to the skin.

Omokpariola warned that the chemicals in some cosmetics products “are endocrine disruptors”, saying that it could lead to early puberty and low sperm count in men due to high estrogenic activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the sensitisation workshop featured technical sessions, lectures, presentation on dangers in continuous use of bleaching creams, questions and answers among others.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng) /Flowerbudnews
Edited by Olagoke Olatoye

Flowerbudnews

By Biola Lawal

Abuja: (Flowerbudnews): The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye has called for deeper cooperation between Nigeria and India Pharmaceutical sectors to enhance access to quality drugs

The NAFDAC Boss stated that deeper collaboration between the pharmaceutical sectors of the two countries would provide unhindered access to medicines that are safe, efficacious, affordable and of required quality.

Prof Mojisola Adeyeye made the call at the India-Nigeria Pharmaceuticals and Health Industry forum organized in Lagos on Thursday, March 2, 2023, a statement by Sayo Akintola Resident Media Consultant disclosed.

The Forum was organised with the aim of providing concrete steps towards birthing, actualizing, and strengthening mutual benefits for pharmaceutical business in both countries,

She noted that the prognosis for the Pharma business in Nigeria and India, the population dynamics and associated health indices provide a common baseline for strong synergy between both countries.

Prof Adeyeye said its without any iota of hesitation to state that these indicators hitherto mentioned are reasons why the regulatory landscape between both countries must of necessity be explored for the good of their citizens.

In a statement by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, in Lagos on Sunday, Prof. Adeyeye also noted strong correlation in economic indices in both countries which places them on the list of World Bank emerging markets thus creating objective evidence and the need for mutuality and strong bilateral cooperation.

She pointed out that no single country, no matter how endowed, can meet all of its national drug needs and yet the universal health coverage within the context of the sustainable development goals must be achieved, adding that one expedited mechanism for meeting essential drug need is through a proposition for mutually beneficial cooperation between regulatory agencies.

According to her, Nigeria was a huge beneficiary of this during the last global pandemic when a substantial quantity of COVID-19 vaccines was obtained from Serum Institute India, noting that this was typically made possible through the active intervening role of the India National Regulatory Authority NRA (The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

As a responsible National Regulatory Agency, Prof. Adeyeye, however, said that NAFDAC will continue to forge meaningful alliance within the confines of its mandate, relevant legislation and in line with global best practice.

As a ML3 Agency, she said that the Agency is strongly averse to unethical practices, noting that NAFDAC will not fail to protect public health through enforcement of appropriate sanctions when and where the need arises.
She warned that a situation where unscrupulous persons or manufacturers under the guise of convergence and cooperation, knowingly or unknowingly, engage in clandestine practices that violate extant regulations which constitutes significant risks to public health will not be treated with kid gloves.

NAFDACs mandate is to safeguard public health and we are not in any way about to give up on this obligation, she said, adding that some local and foreign manufacturers are currently sanctioned for unreputable practices and post marketing failures.

She pointed out that her transformative agenda in NAFDAC which include but not limited to attainment of WHO Maturity Level 4 status, attainment of vaccine lot release, supply chain monitoring and expanded post marketing surveillance, continual pharmacovigilance activities are enough justification for promotion of strong synergy between the India-Nigeria Pharma sector.

According to the NAFDAC boss, India is the largest trading partner of Nigeria and Nigeria is Indias largest trading partner in Africa with bilateral trade in the region of over 13.89 billion USD as of 2019.

She added that Indian owned/operated companies are the second largest employer of labour in Nigeria with huge foreign direct investment in engineering, electrical machinery and equipment, plastics, chemicals, and the pharmaceutical sector.

To further enhance local production of pharmaceuticals and innovation in Nigeria, she reiterated that the Agency set up the Five Plus Five-Year Validity policy in 2019 for products that are sufficiently produced in the country.

For such a product, during the registration license renewal period of 5 years, by the end of the 4th year of license validity, the importer/manufacturer is required to submit draft migration blueprints for local manufacturing or proposed partnership with a Nigerian company.

if there is no progress on migration to local manufacturing as detailed in the blueprint, an alert for de-registration will be sent to the company at the end of the 4th year in the five-year validity.

The Director General said the Five-Plus-Five Validity policy is working because many companies are now embracing this migration either through building quality focused facilities locally or partnership with existing local companies for their manufacturing needs.

Speaking in the same vein, the President of India Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Importers of Nigeria (IPMIN), Mr. Verkay Verghese, pledged the associations cooperation with NAFDAC to ensure that only wholesome medicines are produced in Nigeria or imported into the country to safeguard the health of Nigerians.
He commended NAFDAC for instilling professionalism in the Nigeria pharma sector, through what he described as pragmatic regulatory activity of the Agency under Prof. Adeyeye, stressing that with her at the helm of affairs, attaining WHO Maturity Level 4 would not be too difficult for NAFDAC. (Flowerbudnews)

Flowerbudnews

By Biola Lawal

Lagos: (Flowerbudnews): Hard times now await peddlers and users of illicit drugs in the country as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) and Nigeria Customs Service have pledged to join forces to combat the menace

The Agencies, along with other stakeholders in the health sector, stated that their collaboration would also concentrate on tackling production and trafficking of illicit drugs.

They also vowed to collectively fight and curb illicit drug related organized crime.

The pledge was made on Thursday in Lagos at the launch and dissemination of the 2022 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and Precursors Report 2022, a NAFDAC statement by Sayo Akintola,
Resident Media Consultant stated.

The Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye described narcotics and psychotropic substances as indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering and that they are controlled within the framework of the three international conventions as they possess abuse liability and produce dependence in users.

‘’They are classified not on chemical nature but on the potential for abuse and the need for medical use of the substance’’, she said.

Prof. Adeyeye added that one of the control objectives is to ensure availability solely for medical and scientific uses while minimizing the possibility of diversion to illicit channels and abuse.

According to her, the policy thrust of the Agency is to ensure availability, access and rational use while preventing illicit use and abuse.

The international drug control conventions, she added, are thus interpreted to mean improved access to controlled medicines to enable countries meet their drug needs.

In other to ensure adequate availability of controlled medicines, the NAFDAC boss disclosed that the Agency in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health carried out two quantifications of narcotics and estimation of psychotropic substances and precursors in 2017 and 2019.

She said that the results of these surveys provide the evidenced-based estimation of our national annual requirements of these substances and enable the country to develop measures to achieve that delicate balance between access and control.

‘’According to the 2018 National Drug Use Survey, the prevalence of any drug use was 14.4% or 14.3 million people between the age of 15 and 64 years’’, she said, noting that this is comparatively high compared with the 2016 global annual prevalence of 5.6% among adult population.

Prof Adeyeye pointed out that the challenges arising from drug supply and consumption are not restricted to people who use drugs but have wider health, social and economic consequences on the family, community, and country.

The report, she stated further, revealed that Cannabis is the most commonly used drug, stressing that an estimated 10.8 per cent of the population or 10.6 million people, had used cannabis in the past year with the average age of initiation of cannabis use among the general population put at 19 years.

‘’Cannabis use was 7 times higher among men (18.8 per cent among men vs. 2.6 per cent of women), while the gender gap in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (such as tramadol) was less marked’’, she said.

She however, said that Nigeria will not support the trend of legalization of cannabis for non-medical use as Nigeria lacks the financial capacity to fight cultivation, production and illegal use of the substance.

The non-medical use of Cannabis, according to Prof. Adeyeye, contravenes the United Nations Single Convention of 1961, which classifies cannabis as a highly addictive substance.

‘’The Nigeria Indian Hemp Act as well as the NDLEA Act prohibit the cultivation, production, distribution, sales and use of cannabis and its extracts or derivatives for medical or non-medical purposes’’.

She commended the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime UNODC for the assistance and support to the country in the fight against illicit drug production, trafficking, and use, and in curbing related organized crime.

‘’We also appreciate INCB for the support to NAFDAC towards enhanced regulatory control of narcotics and psychotropic substances’’.

Speaking in the same vein, the Executive Chairman of NDLEA, Brigadier General, Buba Marwa, rtd. decried what he described as an upsurge in abuse of cannabis amongst the Nigerian youths with its attendant negative effects on the society.

He disclosed that the NDLEA with a view to addressing this problem conceptualized War Against Drug Abuse WADA which was launched by the Nigerian President, Mohammadu Buhari on June 26, 2021.

General Marwa who was represented by Mrs. Victoria Ekase, noted that NAFDAC has been ensuring that controlled drug essential for human survival are made available for use where necessary in line with the requirements of INCB, adding that NDLEA on its own part collaborates with NAFDAC in ensuring that the measures put in place to prevent diversion of such medicines and substances to illicit use are adhered to.

‘’In some instances, NDLEA has arrested and prosecuted some traffickers of controlled and narcotics substances intended to be diverted to illicit uses’’, he said, noting with dismay that It’s quite worrisome that chemicals intended for research and industrial purposes are finding their way into illicit drug manufacture.

‘’This is the area that NAFDAC and NDLEA need to deepen collaboration to ensure that such unwholesome acts are completely eliminated’’, he said, adding that the launch of the precursor report will go a long way to complement national efforts in this regard.

General Marwa pledged that NAFDAC and NDLEA will continue to collaborate with major stakeholders at all levels to develop an efficient value-chain and support system that will ensure access to narcotics and controlled substances for medical and strategic purposes while preventing diversion for illicit use.

‘’I sincerely hope that the global launch of the report will enhance the integration and cooperation amongst stakeholders in ensuring effective implementation for the overall benefit of the society.

The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Alli, Rdt. who was represented at the event by Ag. Assistant Comptroller General, ACG, A.N Dappa, also commended NAFDAC, observing that NAFDAC and NDLEA have been most wonderful.

He pledged the loyalty and support of the customs service in the task of ridding the nation of illicit drug. ‘’We have always been in partnership, and we will continue to work in close partnership with you’’, he said. (Flowerbudnews)

hoto 1.
R-L: Mrs Victoria Ekpase, who represented the NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Buba Marwa, Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye and Prof Aderonke Adepeju-Bello of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria PSN, at the launch and dissemination of the 2022 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and Precursors Report 2022, in Lagos…Thursday.
Photo 2
L-R: Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, Mrs Victoria Ekpase, who represented the NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Buba Marwa Rtd, Ag. Assistant Comptroller General ACG of the Nigeria Customs Service, A.N. Dappa, who represented the Customs Service Comptroller General, Col. Hameed Alli rtd. at the launch and dissemination of the 2022 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and Precursors Report 2022, in Lagos…Thursday

Flowerbudnews

By Biola Lawal

Lagos: The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is set for another big international Achievement for Nigeria as its Laboratory Comes Under Consideration for Chemical Weapons Testing designation status by the world Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Flowerbudnews recall that NAFDAC had in recent time, successfully put Nigeria on the global scene by achieving the World Health Organisation (WHO) Level 03 Certification which launched the country on the path to becoming a vaccine manufacturing nation

The impending OPCW Chemical Weapons Testing Designation Status received a major boost following the visit of experts from the OPCW to NAFDAC’s central laboratory in Oshodi, Lagos on Thursday.

They came for inspection and assessment of facilities to be deployed for the global assignment, a statement by Sayo Akintola Resident Media Consultant disclosed.

The consideration of Nigeria for the global assignment followed the nation’s massive investment in the laboratory of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC,

”Nigeria has been chosen to be considered for Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) laboratory designation, ” the statement said.

This meant that all chemicals that are associated with weapons of destruction, both biological and chemical, can be tested in the NAFDAC laboratory.

(R-L. Dr. Roman Warchol, Team leader, Organization of Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague, Netherlands, Director General. National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye,  Lauri Manravaara and Aleski Rapo, both experts from the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (VERIFIN) Helsinki, Finland, during a facilities inspection and assessment visit to NAFDAC’s Central Laboratory in Oshodi, Lagos with a view to considering Nigeria as a site for testing chemicals that are associated with weapons of destruction, both biological and chemical, by OPCW…on Thursday.)

Nigeria and Kenya are the only two countries in Africa so chosen for consideration by the global body, the NAFDAC statement disclosed.

Officials of OPCW based in The Hague, Netherlands, came with some experts on laboratory assessment from the Finnish Institute of Verification of Chemical Weapons Convention, (FERIVIN) based in the University of Helsinki.

Leader of the team, Dr. Roman Warchol, expressed satisfaction with the facilities provided by NAFDAC, saying they were comparable to whatever could be found anywhere in the advanced economy of the world.

He said they came to Nigeria to assess the NAFDAC’s laboratory and see the level of competency, the equipment available for the possible designation of the laboratory.

‘’I’m very happy and satisfied with what Ive seen here’’, said the OPCW top official.

The ostensibly elated Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, explained that ‘’we have been on this for about four years. Except for the COVID-19 period which really affected activities’’

She said ‘’we are going on proficiency testing and we have gone from ‘Participation’ to ‘Very Good’ which is the highest level in the OPCW’s assessment’’.

The NAFDAC boss said she was excited because the experts from Hague and Helsinki were overwhelmed with the Agency’s facilities, adding that they were highly impressed by the competency of NAFDAC staff and the level of understanding.

(R-L. Director General. National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Aleski Rapo, Lauri Manravaara, both experts from the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (VERIFIN) Helsinki, Finland and Team leader, Dr. Roman Warchol, of the Organization of Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague, Netherlands)

‘’We did all our presentations. There was little or no questions. All we are now discussing is level of improvement, areas that we should improve to make it a bigger say.

They were overwhelmed by the commitment of the Agency and the National Authority for Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention (NAC&BWC) in Nigeria, and the Federal Government to the project, she enthused.
Prof Adeyeye further explained:

‘’we are not at war, yes, but we are not only to be testing for Nigeria. We are not only going to be testing the samples that will be used in Nigeria.

In Africa, we are only two sites, Nigeria and Kenya that are being considered for this. We will cover the West Africa and some parts of Africa and the world.

Wherever there are skirmishes or the use of weapons, it might not only be war situation, NAFDAC could be invited to draw sample(s) and then test for the possibility of using harmful chemicals that could be lethal to people.

In line with her mandate and to effectively cover regulations and control of industrial and laboratory chemical, Prof Adeyeye said NAFDAC undertakes the monitoring and control of chemicals through the Directorates of Chemical Evaluation & Research, Narcotics and Control Substances, and Laboratory Services (Food & Chemicals).

Going down the memory lane, she disclosed that on 23rd February 2018, the then Chairman, National Authority for the Prohibition of Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention (NAC&BWC), along with his delegate, visited the NAFDAC Central Laboratory, Oshodi to assess the facility on ground for participation in OPCW testing of materials associated with Chemical Weapons. In October 2018 we participated in the CCACT-097.

The Agency has now improved to the score of Very Good in our last participation CCACT-15 in October 2022.

She further disclosed that the Nigerian Federal Government through NAC&BWC provided an intervention fund in February 2020 valued at about N735m to provide various equipment for the laboratory, stressing that through internally generated revenue, more equipment pieces were added. Since then, the Agency had used her IGR to add more equipment pieces.

She said that the Agency will also expand the laboratory space for OPCW in the new building to be constructed soon.

‘’The assistance and contribution of the United Kingdom in assessing and improving the technical competence of laboratory in OPCW member States in Africa and Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC)GRULAC regions which we benefited has helped since 2021 to improve our performance and technical capacity’’, she said,

adding that NAFDAC staff have participated in the mentorship programme by Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention VERIFIN Helsinki.

Prof Adeyeye said this was done virtually until their physical training in February 2023. According to her, these efforts helped to improve technical ability of staff and their reporting techniques.

Due to importance of the OPCW project to the Agency and the efforts of the international partners, she said the oversight office was moved in January 2023 to Director General Office to underscore the importance for the country.

‘’We are highly indebted to the International Cooperation and Assistance Division, OPCW for facilitating the Memorandum of Understanding and implementing the assistance,’’ she said, adding that the National Authority has been proactive at endorsing NAFDAC’s application for CCACT-testing.

Prof. Adeyeye however assured everyone of the resolve of the to strive to obtain the OPCW- Designated status in no distant future.(Flowerbudnews)

Flowerbudnews

By Ahmed Kaigama

Jos (Plateau):  The National Agency For Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged journalists to collaborate with the agency in the fight against circulation and use of bleaching creams in the country.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General (D-G), NAFDAC, made the call in Jos on Friday while sensitising journalists in the North Central States on the dangers of bleaching creams.

The forum was the North Central zonal media sensitisation workshop on dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls, organised for the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists.

Adeyeye said the workshop was aimed at educating and challenging health journalists in Nigeria to play frontline role in the agency’s effort to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams.

The D-G was represented by Dr Leonard Omokpariola, Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research of the Agency.

“Bleaching creams damage vital organs in the body, cause skin irritation, allergy, skin burn, rashes, wrinkles and prolong healing of wounds.

“Black is beautiful, we don’t need to change our color.

“NAFDAC will constantly engage the mass media as we strive to bring down to the grass root levels positive impact of our regulatory activities,” she said.

On his part, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, Director, Public Affairs of the Agency, said: “The workshop was meant to educate the mass media with the right information and campaign against use of bleaching creams in Nigeria.

“Public ignorance is not an excuse before the law. The role of the mass media in promotion of public health is very important not only for cosmetics and all other NAFDAC regulatory products”.

In a remark, Mr Hassan Zaggi , President, Association of Nigeria Health Journalists, said: “Skin bleaching cream is a serious concern among the citizens in the country.

“Why would somebody use his hard-earned money to buy a cream that will endanger his skin?.

“As journalists, we have a responsibility to educate people on the dangers and as well shape the opinion of the people,” Zaggi said.

He appealed to the journalists to pay attention to the workshop for onward circulation of learning outcomes to members of the public. (NAN) www.nannews.ng / Flowerbudnews

Flowerbudnews

By Biola Lawal

Abuja: (Flowerbudnews):  The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has warned Nigerians against use of a deadly eye drop which has led to death of some patients in the United States

Prof Adeyeye made the disclosure in an Alert to the public detailing the particulars of the dangerous eye drug – EzriCare and Delsam Pharma Artificial Tears eye drops made by Global Pharma Healthcare.

The NAFDAC Director General said that product was recalled  due to suspected contamination with pseudomonas aeruginosa, a highly resistant bacteria.

Prof Adeyeye disclosed in the warning alert that Since the recall, of the product, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has reported 68 patients across 16 states who have suffered health problems from the bacteria, including eye infections, permanent loss of vision,  surgical removal of eyeballs and a case of death with a “bloodstream infection” had also been reported

She stated:

NAFDAC Is notifying the public that Global Pharma Healthcare have recalled EzriCare and Delsam Pharma Artificial Tears eye drops early in February.

The recall of the preservative-free eye drops were due to suspected contamination with pseudomonas aeruginosa, a highly resistant bacteria.

Since the recall, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has reported 68 patients across 16 states who have suffered health problems from the bacteria, including eye infections, permanent loss of vision,  surgical removal of eyeballs and a case of death with a “bloodstream infection” had also been reported.

Laboratory testing identified the bacteria in opened EzriCare bottles from multiple sources, according to the CDC. Unopened bottles are currently being examined to check whether contamination occurred during manufacturing.

Pseudomonas is a type of bacteria (germ) that is found commonly in the environment, like in soil and in water. Of the many different types of Pseudomonas, the one that most often causes infections in humans is called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can cause infections in the blood, lungs (pneumonia), or other parts of the body after surgery.

Signs of infection include yellow, green, or clear discharge from the eye, discomfort or pain, redness, blurry vision and increased sensitivity to light.

Artificial Tears (carboxymethylcellulose sodium) Lubricant Eye Drops are used as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye for the temporary relief of discomfort due to minor irritations of the eye, or to exposure to wind or sun.

Product details

The details of the products are as follows;

Product Manufacturer: Global Pharma Healthcare, Tamilnadu, India.

Brand Name: EzriCare & Delsam Pharma

Product Description: Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops

Affected Lots: All lots within expiry

Product Photos

Although the products are not in NAFDAC database, importers, distributors, retailers and consumers are therefore advised to exercise caution and vigilance within the supply chain to avoid the importation, distribution, sale and use of the above mentioned products. All medical products must be obtained from authorized/licensed suppliers. The products’ authenticity and physical condition should be carefully checked.

Members of the public in possession of the above listed products are advised to discontinue sale or use and submit stock to the nearest NAFDAC office.

If you have batches of the products, please DO NOT use them. If you, or someone you know, have used these products, or suffered any adverse reaction/event after use, you are advised to seek immediate medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.

Healthcare professionals and consumers are advised to report any suspicion of adverse drug reaction, substandard and falsified medicines to the nearest NAFDAC office, NAFDAC on 0800-162-3322 or via email: sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng

Similarly, Healthcare professionals and patients are also encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of medicinal product through the use of the E-reporting platforms available on the NAFDAC website www.nafdac.gov.ng or via the Med- safety application available for download on android and IOS stores or via e-mail on pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng (Flowerbudnews)

By Isaiah Eka/Nathan Nwakamma

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians not to use unapproved cosmetics because the dangers were largely irreversible.

The Director-General NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning during the media sensitisation workshop on dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls for South South Journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Adeyeye, who was represented by Dr. Leonard Omokpariola,  Director, Drug Evaluation and Research, said the menace of unapproved cosmetics such as bleaching creams in Nigeria had become a national health emergency that required multi-faced regulatory approach.

According to the NAFDAC D-G, the unapproved cosmetics used banned and toxic chemicals to achieve skin lightening effects that leaves the user with undesirable effects.

She listed some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams to include cancer, damage to vital organs of the body like kidney and liver.

It also causes skin cancer, irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin ageing and prolonged healing of wounds.

The DG said that  the World Health Organisation in a 2018 study, revealed that use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77 per cent of Nigerian women which was highest in Africa, compared to 59 per cent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 per cent women in Senegal.

She said that the essence of the sensitisation workshop was to train Journalists and stakeholders, who will inform the public on the dangers of those cosmetics.

Adeyeye added that the sensitisation workshop was a Train the Trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants would assume role of champions in the campaign against use of bleaching creams in the country.

She added that after the sensitisation campaign, the agency would take stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of rampant and pervasive cases of Nigerians using bleaching creams.

The director general thanked journalists and stakeholders for their collaboration and support for NAFDAC to rid the country of the menace of substandard and falsified medicines, unwholesome foods, corrosive cosmetics and other substandard regulated products.

Representatives of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, cosmetics manufacturers, supermarket operators, Nigerian Customs Health officials, amongst other stakeholders attended the workshop.

Earlier, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, NAFDAC Director of Public Affairs, said the war against menace of bleaching cream across the country was sequel to a resolution of the 2022 Senate, promoted by Sen Oluremi Tinubu.

According to Jimoh, the Senate resolution crystallised to a memorandum from the  Secretary to Government of the Federation directing NAFDAC to strengthen its regulatory functions to curb the menace.

NAN