Nigerian agency strongly contests that 70% of drugs are fake
pharmafile | November 13, 2017 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | Nigeria, biotech, drugs, pharma, pharmaceutical, pwC
Nigeria’s drug regulatory body has fiercely countered claims made by Chief Economist of PwC in West Africa, Andrew Nevin, that 70% of the drugs available on the Nigerian market are fake or counterfeit.
Nigeria’s drug regulatory body has fiercely countered claims made by Chief Economist of PwC in West Africa, Andrew Nevin, that 70% of the drugs available on the Nigerian market are fake or counterfeit.
The comments from Nevin came during a conference where he provided a keynote address for the 90th Annual National Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) released a statement to suggest Nevin’s claim were not based on evidence and would scare foreigners and Nigerian’s from using the healthcare system.
Abubakar Jimoh, NAFDAC spokesperson, said, “Our attention at NAFDAC has been drawn to a newspaper report citing a representation by an expert (so to say) alleging that there are over 70% fake and counterfeit drugs in circulation in the Nigerian market. That 70% of all drugs circulating in Nigeria and Africa are counterfeit.
“I don’t know where the man drew that statement from because it was not referred to any study that was carried out. It was just one of the careless statements that people just say carelessly either under the guise of making a sensational news or I don’t know what he wants to achieve by that.”
Nevin had called on NAFDAC to do more to prevent the threat posed by counterfeit and fake medicine, and he cited records that point to at least 100,000 deaths being linked to health complications caused by the use of such medicines.
The conference also featured a speech by Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, that placed pressure on the agency to do more to verify the authenticity of herbal drugs. He is reported as saying that it should remove: “its stamp of authority from all producers herbal medicines that it cannot vouch for their efficacy. I am worried at the use of herbal drugs. NAFDAC has not helped matters also. It is amazing to see different concoctions with label from NAFDAC and to an average Nigerian, once you see NAFDAC number on a product, it means a seal of authority.”
For its part, NAFDAC pointed towards a joint study by the WHO and itself to determine levels of fake drugs circulating in the country. It pointed towards a finding of 16.7% as a more accurate figure than the 70% that Nevin had claimed.
Ben Hargreaves
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