The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) has reaffirmed their determination to eliminate open drug markets across the country.
Speaking at a joint media briefing in Lagos NAFDAC Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, described open drug markets as a persistent problem for regulatory agencies.
Adeyeye said that the relocation of the open drugs market in Kano to a Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC), has set a standard that should be followed by others.
She pointed out that the disorderly chain of movement of medicine from the manufacturer to the final consumer is inimical to the efficacy of pharmaceutical products and is the primary cause of substandard and falsified medicines being in circulation.
Adeyeye noted that the fight to sanitize the drug distribution system started over a decade ago when the Presidential Committee on Pharmaceutical Sector Reform (PCPSR), constituted in 2003, developed strategies toward the sanitization of drug distribution.
She added that NAFDAC and its sister agency would continue to intensify efforts to ensure the establishment of CWC in other states.
Also, speaking the registrar of the PCN, Ibrahim Babashehu-Ahmed, highlighted that the CWC in Kano was the first of its kind, established to enhance the regulation of drug distribution and sales in Nigeria.
He described the ruling as a significant step toward improving drug distribution control and curbing the prevalence of substandard medicines.
