The recent inauguration of a Federal Task Force to fight counterfeit drugs and unwholesome processed foods in Nigeria marks a significant step towards safeguarding public health and restoring confidence in the nation’s food and medicines supply chain.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Mohammad Ali Pate, had explained that the aim of launching the task force is to safeguard public health, strengthen regulatory enforcement and ensuring that only safe, high quality drugs and food products reach Nigerian consumers. This is laudable.
According to the WHO, substandard and falsified medical products are prevalent in low and middle-income countries with Africa accounting for a significant proportion of the global burden.
In Nigeria, SFs have been linked to many treatment failures, drug resistance, and preventable deaths, while unsafe processed foods have contributed to food borne diseases.
Nigeria has long struggled with the menace of counterfeit drugs and unsafe food products, a challenge that has remained a concern to the masses and regulatory agencies in the country.
NAFDAC has led several crackdowns over the years, adopted high-tech tools to aid detection, but the menace still persists. High profile raids such as the closure of Onitsha open drug market in 2019 have been hailed as major wins but activities of unscrupulous elements involved in the criminal merchandise keep sending regulatory agencies to the drawing board.
Between February and March this year, for instance, NAFDAC with support from the National Security Adviser and 1,350 security operatives executed unprecedented raids at major drug markets in Idumota, Onitsha and Aba, leading to the evacuation and destruction of over 137 truckloads of counterfeit and substandard drug products valued at over N1 trillion. The scale of the menace could be higher if the crackdown is extended to other centers where open drug markets exist across the country. The latest crackdown and discoveries made by NAFDAC reinforces the feeling among Nigerians that more work needs to be done by government to defeat this adversary.
Several factors have contributed to the growing menace. The collapse of primary healthcare centers across the country, non-review of the existing legal framework, lack of intelligence gathering, the political will on the part of government and existence of porous borders have played significant roles.
The Federal Government latest intervention through the launch of a multi-agency task force provides hope that government is committed to build effective capacity needed to confront and defeat the menace. However, a strong synergy between all levels and tiers of government is imperative to achieve that.
Sustained political will on the part of government and public cooperation are essential to achieving lasting results.
Primary health centers should be adequately funded and upgraded to serve as first point of call for populations in local communities seeking care.
Most of the drugs that are targets for counterfeiters and opportunists are over-the-counter drugs in high demand among rural populations. It’s cheery news that a number of states have started prioritizing funding and effective running of PHC’s.
A review of existing laws that are weak and unwieldy is crucial to achieving deterrence. Punitive measures that are proportionate to the weight of offence committed must be accommodated.
In fact, long prison sentences should be handed down to those convicted of sale, distribution and promotion of fake drugs and unsafe foods without option of fine.
Intensification of surveillance and credible intelligence gathering is key to facilitating pro-active steps needed to squash the illicit merchandise at source.
As part of its obligations, the task force has been mandated to embark on market surveillance, conduct nationwide raids on suspected outlets, strengthen border controls and intensify public sensitization on the dangers of counterfeit medicines and contaminated foods. This is commendable.
But care must be taken in appointing security personnel that would be members of the team for this crucial national assignment. Any security personnel with doubtful integrity must be seen as a security risk. There should also not be any room for compromises. Criminal elements behind the menace are in possession of troves of money and ready at all times to deploy it to their advantage.
Therefore, full implementation of the nationwide operation of the task force is urgently needed to enhance a reversal of this menace.
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