The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that illiteracy and poverty are major factors contributing to the high rate of fake products in Nigeria, News About Nigeria reports.
Moji Adeyeye, the Director General of NAFDAC, made this disclosure during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
According to Adeyeye, over 50% of Nigerians are illiterate, which makes it difficult for them to use technology to recognise fake goods.
She added that some educated Nigerians do not read product labels, which adds to the availability of counterfeit goods in the market.
She explained, “All these things are tied to poverty, illiteracy and the economy. About 50% of Nigerians are illiterate. For someone that didn’t go to school, how can they do what we are asking them to do? Even those of us who went to school don’t read labels in the market.”
Adeyeye proposed that consumers might be able to confirm the authenticity of products using technology, specifically smartphones that can read barcodes.
According to her, the agency collaborated with the Ministry of Health to implement a national traceability strategy that uses technology to monitor various products, including vaccines, antimalarials, anti-tuberculosis drugs, and narcotics.
While recognising the progress made by NAFDAC, Adeyeye said that no regulatory body can achieve perfection overnight.
Adeyeye acknowledged that while the problems in the market will not go away quickly, NAFDAC is still committed to playing a vital role in safeguarding public health in Nigeria.
“When you have a lot of things to do, it is not overnight that you do them. We are using it now to monitor antimalarials, anti-tuberculosis, and anti-viral. We are now using it to monitor narcotics.
“We have a huge market and we cannot do everything overnight. That is what the world is watching NAFDAC for. This agency is making strides.
“Are we there yet, no. We are not there yet, no agency can be there 100% We are improving and improving,” she said.
No fewer than 240 shops on Cemetery Road Market, Aba, Abia State were shut down over fake and counterfeit drugs by NAFDAC.
According to Adeyeye, the drugs and other products confiscated were worth more than N700 million.
Adeyeye said the raid was carried out within the first two weeks of December 2023 and that many such raids had been going on in the country.
