Pharmacists under the platform of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) have given the alarm that no less than 50% of medicines currently in circulation throughout the country are false or of lower quality.
The National President of ACPN, the pharmacist Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh, announced this in a statement issued before the 44th Annual National Conference of the Association. The statement was made available to Nigerian Tribune on Friday night.
Ezeh expressed a deep concern about the growing prevalence of false drugs, food and drinks, describing the situation as an important source of concern in contemporary Nigeria.
“From now on, more than 50% of drugs in circulation throughout the country are false and poor,” he said.
He explained that false drugs pose serious health risks for people, groups and society in general, and regretted that the situation is deteriorating despite continuous efforts.
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He asked the National Assembly to urgently amend existing false drugs and the processed food law (various) insecure to strengthen the legal framework to address the threat.
“Our generally reliable and reliable research -based efforts indicate that we return to the days of more than 50% of the medications in circulation being false and poor, compared to the official figures that are around 13% and 15%,” he said.
Ezeh emphasized that without a decisive legislative and regulatory action, the health and safety of the Nigerians would remain at risk.
Tribuneline