India and China are Nigeria’s worst enemies in the waning war against fake drugs. The barons and their Nigerian collaborators feed fat on killer drugs in the Nigerian market due to lack of stiff punishments in the country. In China for instance, manufacturing and trading in fake drugs attract death sentence. The same offence attracts life sentence in India. Yet, these countries remain the main sources of killer drugs in Nigeria. In November 2008, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, blacklisted 15 Indian companies for bringing over 40 brands of fake drugs into the Nigerian market. The punishment did not go beyond that.
Sadly, the same offence that attracts capital punishment in China and India attracts a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment in Nigeria with an option of fine of N500,000. It is estimated that this amount is far less than what a baron in the business makes in a week, depending on the volume of his trade and how much he invested in it. Over time strong legislation has been canvassed to keep fake drug dealers in check. In Nigeria, Idumota in Lagos and Onitsha in Anambra State are believed to be strongholds of fake drug barons. There are cases where drug dealers in these markets have vowed to assist the authorities in fishing out those who engage in the heinous acts. Often times, they have failed to keep the promise due to the absence of close monitoring by government agents.
Experts in the maritime sector explained that a high volume of illegal imports come in along side fairly-used products especially cars. “Whereas local manufactures of fake products can be put in check through constant raid of their business premises and retail outlets, no matter where they are located in this country, the importers and their foreign collaborators should be made to face capital punishments if they are caught bringing in or trading in unwholesome products”, said a pharmacist.
As vicious as the barons and their dealers tend to be, the operations of NAFDAC in the eyes of some observers still leaves much to be desired. Prior to Dora Akunyili-era in the agency as the director-general, DG, sources say, registration of drugs in many cases was determined by how much a maker or importer was ready to part with. That made it possible for even substandard and adulterated products to bear NAFDAC registration numbers. That, which seemed to be a bazaar in the agency seems to have surfaced in the last one year despite what appears to be a sustained campaign against fake drugs. Stakeholders in the health sector believe there is need for internal restructuring of the operations of NAFDAC.
Furthermore, Eddie Onuoha, a pharmacist in charge of Trustee Drugs & Medical Supplies Limited, Lagos, advocates that “the regulators should scrap all unqualified drug dispensers all over the country. Even drugs like Paracetamol should not be sold on the streets. Hospitals and clinics should stop patronising the unqualified drug dispensers; and adequate enlightenment should be done to sensitise the public that any drug bought from unqualified pharmaceutical stores is not safe for use”.
NAFDAC is known to have carried out such campaigns in the past and in some cases, met stiff opposition. For instance, in the My Pikin teething syrup case in which several children were said to have died after taking the drug, which NAFDAC said was produced with contaminated chemicals, the manufacturers later approached a federal high court in Lagos attempting to refrain the agency from carrying what it saw as advertorials containing offensive words.
Proper record-keeping on drugs is also believed to be a sustainable means of prosecuting the drug war. What some reputable pharmaceutical stores in Lagos have done to guard against trading in fake and substandard drugs is to install a computer software that gives full description of drugs; name of buyer; time sold; the pharmacist that prescribed it; and the attendant that sold it. In addition to putting bar codes to their products, some medical practitioners are also canvassing the view that local manufacturers should deal with only recognised pharmacy stores.
NAFDAC officials believe that the dealers in fake drugs may have relocated to the hinterlands because of the introduction of Truscan, a fake drug detecting machine. It is believed in medical circles that if indeed, the introduction of such devices can drive fake drug dealers from one part of the country to another, then; NAFDAC has a responsibility to put enough of the machines in all the states of the federation and should not limit its operations to state capitals. Not long ago, the machine was taken to the Overhead Bridge Drug Market, a popular Onitsha market where some drugs were screened and confirmed to be fake.
Two years ago, the same market was shut by NAFDAC. It took the intervention of Peter Obi, Anambra State governor and the leadership of the market association to reopen the market. Although NAFDAC d did not apply a stiff penalty on the market for going contrary to its pledge not to deal in fake drugs any more, professionals in the health sector are of the view that a strong legislation would have put the dealers in check.
One of the steps taken by the previous regime in NAFDAC was the appointment of agents at the various countries from where Nigerians import drugs, to assist in checking the influx of unregistered products into the country. In the new regime, the agency is said to have performed below expectation in terms of strengthening such collaborations.
Through normal international trade between Nigeria and these countries, fake drugs still find their ways into the country due to the shortcomings of security officials at the border posts. Besides, importers of the drugs also take advantage of porous entry points and circumvent the rules of importation. At the Nigerian ports for instance, exact checks on consignments are hardly carried out. Where such checks are still in place, some security officials connive with the importers to bring in unregistered products and contraband goods. Tightening the borders and taking extra security measures are said to be key to wining the fake drug war.
As the DG of NAFDAC for about eight years, Akunyili fought a complex war against fake drugs and she had so many sad tales to tell about the flourishing fake drug market in Nigeria. For instance, on one occasion, a senator gave her a distress call. He had purchased some regulated drugs from a pharmacy in a high-class area in Abuja to put his blood pressure under control. But several hours after he took the drugs his condition remained abnormal. The drugs faile failed. Upon investigation it was discovered that the drugs were substandard. “But how could they have found their ways to the shelves of the pharmacy?” Akunyili wondered. But that seemed to be a mild case.
A more shocking revelation was made on how the merchants of killer drugs imported large quantities of drugs meant for inducement of labour in critical pregnancy situations. The drugs were later found to be counterfeit. For as long as the drugs were in the market, most of their consumers were in the valley of the shadow of death.
Awful and bizarre as the cases were, one of the sad memories of her years in NAFDAC came the day she met one of the barons that was standing trial for playing a major role in the atrocities in a high-class hotel in the South-east. Quickly, she alerted her company, a retired general of the Nigerian Army. Then, she realised her life was still at risk of possible attack by the forces behind the trade, having earlier escaped the bullets of assassins. With a combination of expertise and activism, her battle cry was heard across the country. But she could not sing a victory song as she was vacating office.
That alone, gave Paul Orhii, her successor enough reason to worry. The new DG also had to contend with mounting opposition against his appointment. Trained as a pharmacologist, Orhii’s ascension to the NAFDAC top job in January 2009, attracted condemnation by pharmacists, who claimed he was neither qualified nor registered as one of them. Shortly after his appointment, Orhii was confronted with the My Pikin killer teething syrup saga.
There are claims that after what seems to be a fierce ba battle with Akunyili, many of the bandits relocated to the hinterlands. But in recent times, the trade is said to be booming even in the cities. Azubuike Okwor, president, Pharmacists Society of Nigeria, PSN, describes the prevalent situation in the fake drug market as chaotic. “There is nothing PSN has not done to make government realise that people’s lives are at stake”, he lamented.
All the association will continue to do is advocacy and appeal as it is not in a position to enforce the laws. Against the backdrop of claims being made by NAFDAC to the effect that dealers in illicit drugs have been driven out of major cities, Okwor, made a revelation to the contrary. He says the production and sale of the products is wide spread in parts of Ajegunle, Oshodi, Apapa, Agege and several other areas in Lagos.
Last month, NAFDAC reported a clampdown on importers of a large quantity of Lonart, an anti-malaria drug that is said to be enjoying good patronage in the Nigerian market in Lagos. Similarly, the searchlight was recently beamed on the Ikorodu and Epe areas of the state, leading to the closure of several stores and destruction of fake drugs valued at about N10 million. The closure was the outcome of a routine raid on suspected dealers in fake and counterfeit drugs carried out by a joint team of NAFDAC officials, PSN, the police and other law enforcement agents drawn from Lagos state.
A pharmacist who witnessed the raid remarked that “the fake products are everywhere. They produce all kinds of drugs especially; those that are meant for treatment of common ailments like paracetamol, piriton and several simple malaria drugs; and many have died as a result of this. The government will save a lot of lives if they continue this way”. In Cross River State, the agency also said it shut down about 200 patent medicine stores in places it described as hideouts for the dealers, as part of its efforts to get rid of fake drugs even in the hinterlands.
However, stakeholders in the health sector strongly contend that only strong legislation against the activities of the barons and the dealers can rid the country’s drug market of fake and counterfeit drugs.
Additional reports by
Funke Oduwole
and Abiola Odutola
Onuoha: Advocates NAFDAC scraps unqualified drug dispensers
Obi: Intervened to reopen Overhead Bridge Drug Market, Onitsha
Orhii: Contends with mounting opposition
Okwor: Reveals sale of fake products thrives in suburbs |
