NAFDAC Destroyed N25bn Worth of Goods in Five Years, Says DG

                           

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday commenced a three-day sensitisation workshop on anti-corruption, gender and SERVICOM for its staff in Enugu in accordance with the federal government directive that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should establish anti-corruption unit.

Declaring the workshop open, the Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the workshop which the agency organised in alliance with Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), is to educate and strengthen the agency's anti-corruption war against counterfeiting and unwholesome practices in the country.

Orhii, who was represented by the NAFDAC deputy director special duties, Dr. Jimo Ibrahim, said the NAFDAC in its mandate to safeguard the nation from counterfeit drug and unwholesome products, has seized and destroyed N25 billion worth of products in the last five years of his administration.   

NAFDAC DG noted that this feat was achieved through various strategies which included deployment of cutting edge technology, which he said had reduced the incidences of fake drug from 60 percent in 2011 to 3.6 per cent in 2015 especially as it regard anti-malaria drugs. 

According to him, "people can confidently go to any pharmaceutical shop and buy genuine drugs using mobile authentication service which is now included in all anti-malaria and antibiotic drugs." 

Orhii noted that anticorruption must be fought beginning from the head down to cleaners.

"In the last five and half years NAFDAC has destroyed 25billion worth of counterfeit product. We have reduced the fake anti-malaria drugs from 60 per cent in 2008 to 3.5 per cent in 2015 through vigorous anticorruption crusade," he said.

Addressing the participants at the workshop being held at Villa Toscana Hotel Enugu, the Deputy Director, Head Corruption, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (CMED) of the ICPC, Akeem Lawal, disclosed that ICPC has established over 400 anti-corruption units in MDAs to fight corruption because the war against corruption must start from within.