Pharmacist Calls For Regulations Against Contraband Drugs

An Abuja based pharmacist, Mr Malachy Ugwu, has called on regulatory agencies to be pragmatic and aggressive on the enforcement of laws to curb circulation of contraband drugs in the country.
He urged the agencies to be more observant as there was increase in the circulation of some contraband drugs in the market.
Ugwu told The Tide’s source in Abuja that contraband drugs like phenylbutazone tablets were still in the market.
The pharmacist advised the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to step up its surveillance because the health hazards of the drugs were enormous.
“Some of the contraband drugs like Analgin, Gentamycin 280mg injection are still being sold by some traders in the market.
“Many of the consumers don’t know the side effects of the drugs because they are interested in getting well from their ailment,” Ugwu said.
The pharmacist restated calls for all the regulatory agencies to rise to the occasion of saving the populace from health dangers of those drugs.
He said that many of the drugs had stayed long in the store making them to lose their potency.
Besides, he advised Nigerians to always purchase their drugs from registered patent dealers who were certified by NAFDAC, noting that some dealers are after profit and not bothered to save lives.
The source recalls that on September 1, 2005, NAFDAC banned all drugs containing dipyrone including Novalgin, Analgin, Optalgin and many others.
The ban came as a response to the discovery of two major cases of severe adverse drug reactions on two students in Delta.