By Editor
The National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) in collaboration with Pharmacist Council of Nigeria(PCN) has clampdown on 1,321 patent medicine outlets in Sabon Gari open market in Kano.
The enforcement operations by the join team of regulators came 72 hours after the Federal high court ordered the drug dealers to vacate their open market premises and relocate to Coordinated Wholesale Centre, at Dangwauro village along Zaria road in the state.
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Addressing a press conference Monday, the Director Investigation and Enforcement, NAFDAC, Mr Francis Ononiwu, said the closure was part of exercise to sanitize unwholesome pharmaceutical practice by the dealers.
Mr Ononiwu explained that over the years, the patent medicine traders have constituted imment threat to public health with distribution of unwholesome pharmaceutical products to unsuspected public.
The NAFDAC officer worried that despite operating without registered or certified by PCN and other regulatory agencies, the medicine dealers have perpetrated a chaotic chain of supply inimical to efficacy of the pharmaceutical products.
He argued that NAFDAC and PCN are mandated to forcefully evict the drug sellers from the Sabon Gari open market and relocate them to Government designed Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) following the court verdict.
He wanted the dealers to realize the positive reason in their relocation to coordinated centre as part of effort to fight drug abuse in the country.
“Following the court judgment that ordered the relocation of the patent medicine dealers to CWC, NAFDAC and PCN joint enforcement team embarked on enforcement action between 17th and 18th February where 1,321 outlets were sealed.
” The operations were executed in line with the enforcement and regulatory task of the agencies necessary to sanitize drug distribution in Nigeria and to check the chaotic supply of pharmaceuticals, in the open market, a development inimical to public health.
” These people have caused a lot of damage to the health of the society because, apart from dispensing fake and adultrated medicines, they lack the required cold store for pharmaceutical storage. With that alone, so many medicines in there shelf have lose the efficiency because of the high temperature where they stock products”.
Meanwhile, the Sabon Patent medicine dealers on Monday matched to Kano state government House to register their displeasure over the eviction and relocation order issued by the court.
The drug dealers seen in their long possession and placards with various inscription rejecting their forceful vacation, along state road pleaded on the state government for intervention.
Speaking at the government house, Chairman of the association Alh. Musbahu Khalid lamented the act of exploitation being subjected to by the owners of the new centre at Dangwauro village. He however appealed on the state government to takeover of the CWC for proper management.
Receiving the aggrieved medicine dealers, Alh. Shehu Sagagi, Chief of Staff to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, appealed for calm and warned them not to take laws into their hands. He promised that government will examine the development with a view to amicably address the situation.