COVID-19 Pandemic Has Increased Substandard Products – NAFDAC

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has expressed that the Covid-19 pandemic aggravated the challenge posed by substandard Personal Protective Equipment.

Adeyeye was represented by Director, Narcotics and Controlled Substances, NAFDAC, Umar Musa, at the continuation of nationwide sensitization programme in Benin on Thursday.

She expressed that it has become apparent to let the public know that unregulated goods and products are harmful to health.

She said, “It is clear that the advent of Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the problem with the challenge posed by substandard and falsified Personal Protective Equipment in Nigeria.

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“The campaign would address the public health challenges like dangers of buying medicines from hawkers instead of from only licensed pharmacies and medicine stores.

“The sensitisation effort would also look at the abuse of Codeine and self-medication especially among youths, the dangerous effects of using Kerosene tanker to load groundnut oil, dangerous practice of using potassium bromate to bake bread and the use of Azo-dyes in palm oil which causes cancer.

“Other things the campaign will also address are the dangers of using sniper to preserve any type of food or to keep flies away from meat, dangers of transfat and consumption of excessive oil, use of formalin on food and its associated health hazards and low level of exclusive breastfeeding practice by lactating mothers and its associated health hazards.

“Also, the dangers of wrong use of pesticides and insecticides, wrong use of chemicals and its hazardous effects, as well as the problem of antimicrobial resistance arising from animal meat, will also be on the front burner as the sensitisation train moves all over the country,” she added.