Nigeria at risk of drugs shortage over Coronavirus – NAFDAC

 

Nigeria runs the risk of drug shortage should the Coronavirus epidemic continue in China, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) warned on Monday.

The agency boss, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said India which Nigeria depends on for a greater percentage of its drug imports, has already been hit by the ravaging effects of the virus.

India buys most of the materials and active ingredients for drug manufacture from China while Nigeria imports 70 per cent of her medicines as well as active and non-active ingredients mostly from the South Asian country.

Nigeria, according to NAFDAC, should be worried about the development since “we don’t manufacture anything here except water.”

The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning during a news briefing yesterday in Abuja on the African Medicine Quality Forum (AMQF) meeting scheduled for February 24 and 28.

She said: “70 per cent of our drugs are imported and the alarm I am sounding now is one everybody should take seriously. We have drug insecurity because of coronavirus.

“India is already feeling it because they buy most of their materials and active ingredients from China. If India is feeling it, we should start praying because we don’t manufacture anything here except water; we import almost everything – active and non-active ingredients, equipment, etcetera.”

The NAFDAC boss also urged Nigerians to desist from cooking food with paracetamol, especially to soften meat.

READ: Coronavirus: Two-thirds of world population may be infected

She said: “When paracetamol is subjected to heat while cooking with it, it changes to para-aminophenol and benzoquine, which destroys the kidney. We have done a lot of enlightenment because the major problem of our people is ignorance and illiteracy.

“We haven’t made any arrest because to do that, we will need to test the pots of soup containing these substances at our office. Another reason is because we are short of staff, but I think the government is doing something about this.”

On enforcements against peddlers of fake and substandard medicines, Adeyeye said the agency was collaborating with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), especially in markets that are not approved or those known for substandard medicines.

She explained that NAFDAC was also in talks with online stores so that any advertiser that want to sell medicine on their platforms is registered with PCN.