The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAP) have counsel the federal government against removing drugs from exclusive as contained in the Nigeria constitution, noting that its movement to the Concurrent List would worsen the problems of counterfeit medicines and other drug related offence across the country.
This was made known at the a special reception in honour of two distinguished fellows of the Academy, Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Chinedum Peace Babalola, vice chancellor, Chrisland University for their outstanding achievements in the public service.
Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, NAP, said “medicines are currently on the Exclusive List (item 21 of part 1 of the second schedule of the 1999 constitution) and though there appears to be an ill-advised move to remove it from this list to the Concurrent List, the Academy wishes to strongly advise that the health needs of Nigerians are best served by retaining medicines on the Exclusive list. This is particularly critical, if we are to avert a worsening of the chaos of drug distribution across Nigeria and the nightmare this poses for regulatory control,” Adelusi-Adeluyi said.
Adelusi-Adeluyi further said that the current situation of drug misuse and abuse in the country had clearly transited from being a mere courier country to one in which young people now actively abuse drugs and hard substances.
“There is an urgent need for aggressive regulatory control backed by legislation to control the availability of drugs and other controlled substances across the country” he added.
Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of NAFDAC expressed confidence that the regulator would not let the Academy and the country down ensuring that illicit drugs do not get to children.
On the menace of drug abuse, “curtailing drug abuse is everyone’s responsibility. However one essential measure in preventing abuse is making sure that access is cut off at the points of entry which is what we have been striving to do in spite of all the barriers.
“We have intercepted many containers of illegal substances as I speak. There must also be a communal approach to tackling the issue by propagating the right message that illicit drugs can damage the brain and ruin lives. Community and religious leaders must drive and champion this cause of fighting substance abuse,” Adeyeye urged.
The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy is a specialized academy that among others, seeks to promote scientific research and professional development especially in the health, pharmaceutical and related sectors in order to help overcome challenges posed by pain and disease as well as fast-track social and economic development in Nigeria and beyond.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
