From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Director General, Nigeria Agency for Food, Drug Administration Control, (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Adeyeye, yesterday, said the sensitization campaigns of her agency will contribute significantly to the Federal Government’s concerted efforts in informing, sensitizing, educating and alerting the public about inherent dangers of intake and use of spurious regulated products in the country.
She said this at the flag-off of a 2-day sensitization campaigns Programme held in Benin City.
The NAFDAC DG, represented by the Dr. Musa Umar, Director of Narcotics and Controlled Substances, Benin City, Edo State, maintained that public awareness campaign is one of the veritable regulatory mechanisms put in place by NAFDAC to promote and protect the health of our people, stressing, a well informed, sensitized and educated citizenry is the bedrock of effective regulation of all substances.
Prof. Adeyeye added that this is why the event is another major milestone in their bid to protect Nigerians against the deleterious effects of unwholesome food, falsified medical products, Harmful Cosmetics, Poor Water and other substandard regulated products.
Adeyeye said the key objective of this sensitization programme is to intensify and expand the scope of their informal and formal behaviour change communication strategies in order to reach the vulnerable communities especially at the grassroots.
She said the dissemination of Food and Drug safety information is an important aspect of our regulatory work.
She further advised consumers thus “That the consumers should avoid the dangers of buying medicines from hawkers, that patients should buy medicines from only licensed Pharmacies and Medicine Stores.
” Others are; the abuse of Codeine and self-medication especially among youths, beware of dangerous effects of using Kerosene tanker to load groundnut oil, avoid the dangerous practice of using potassium bromate to bake bread.
“Use of Azo-dyes in Palm oil which causes cancer Dangers of using Sniper to preserve any type of food or to keep flies away from meat, dangers of transfer and consumption of excessive oil. Use of formalin on food and its associated health hazards.
“Low level of exclusive Breastfeeding Practice by Lactating Mothers and its associated health hazards, dangers of wrong use of pesticides and insecticides, wrong use of chemicals and its hazardous effects and problem of antimicrobial resistance arising from animal meat.”