(NAN)
Kano State Task Force Committee on Fake, Counterfeit Drugs and Unwholesome Foods says it has seized and destroyed fake and counterfeit drugs worth N6 billion in the past nine years.
The Chairman of the committee, Gali Sule, disclosed this during an interactive session on Saturday with the Kano state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
According to him, since the inauguration of the committee in 2012, it has destroyed fake and counterfeit drugs in the state in about 20 different occasions.
The committee Chairman attributed the success to the hard work and commitment of its members and also other related agencies established to fight the menace.
According to Sule, the state’s ranking on the consumption of fake and substandard drugs has improved as it drops from number one to six in a recent rating.
He stressed that it has helped in sanitising the society, the nation and many African Countries from engaging in sales of fake and counterfeit drugs.
“If you sanitise Kano of fake drugs, you are sanitising many countries in the region of Africa of substandard drugs because countries like Niger, Chad, even Sudan among others buy their drugs from Kano.
“We have destroyed all the seized drugs, 20 destruction exercises for the seized drugs have been held since 2012, mostly witnessed by the executive governor of the state, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje,” Sule explained.
He said before the inauguration of the committee, the government was spending a lot of money on malaria, yet the sicknesses persists because fake and counterfeit Malaria drugs normally brings about drug resistance.
He said that most drug hawkers on the streets of Kano have been driven away because of the activities of the committee, which has NAFDAC, NDLEA, security agencies, KAROTA, vigilance groups among others as members.
“Drug hawkers in Kano have been drastically reduced, before they were everywhere but they are no more, they have relocated to neighbouring states.
*Just three days ago we confiscated fake and adulterated antimalarial drugs, which if left undetected would have affected many, especially pregnant women.
“The logo on the drug is for a partnership programme between Kano state and some international donors on antimalarial drugs.
“The partnership had terminated three years ago, but these people are still using the logo to manufacture the fake drug,” said Sule.
He said more measures are being taken in collaboration with the Federal Government to stem the tide of the menace.
Sule said that a site is being built, where all drug marketers, especially wholesalers in Kano would be relocated.
“All the drug regulatory agencies will be there to ensure that fake drugs are not brought in and distributed. Kano governor approved the site and it is almost 80 per cent completed,” he said.
