Zamfara Moves to Halt Illegal Drug Sales, Hawking
Abdullahi Chakwa The Zamfara State Government has intensified efforts to curb the sale and hawking of medicines illegally, describing the practice as a major threat to public health and efforts to improve healthcare delivery in the state. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Nafisa Muhammad Maradun, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Gusau on […]
The Zamfara State Government has ramped up its efforts to combat the illegal sale and hawking of medicines, emphasizing the practice as a significant threat to public health and healthcare improvement in the region. Dr Nafisa Muhammad Maradun, the state’s Commissioner for Health, highlighted this concern during a stakeholders’ meeting in Gusau, where she discussed the regulation and enforcement of laws governing medicines.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary Alhaji Rilwanu Musa Zurmi, Maradun stressed that the state's healthcare investments could be jeopardized if residents continued to use fake, substandard, or improperly handled medicines. "Our infrastructure has been developed, but the major challenge is that after all these investments in the health sector, a client may end up with fake medicine, and that is a great challenge in our state," Maradun warned.
She warned that unregulated drug sales could lead to improper dosages, misuse of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance, and treatment failure. The government's strategy encompasses stricter regulation of the pharmaceutical supply chain, public education, and robust enforcement against those engaged in illegal medicine sales. Pharmacist Mas'ud Isah, Director of Pharmaceutical Services in the ministry, explained that existing laws and regulatory provisions ban the hawking and unauthorized distribution of medicines, specifically citing the roles of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other regulatory bodies.
Isah urged stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of these laws, emphasizing the need for increased intelligence sharing among regulatory agencies, security forces, traditional institutions, and market associations to identify and apprehend illegal medicine distributors. Isah clarified that the goal was not to target legitimate pharmaceutical businesses but to safeguard residents from the dangers posed by fake, adulterated, expired, and improperly stored medicines.
The stakeholders present at the meeting, which included representatives from the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, NAFDAC, NAPMED, ACPN, police, NSCDC, religious and traditional institutions, and labor unions, expressed their support for the government's initiative, stressing the importance of coordinated action to protect residents and ensure compliance with regulations governing medicine handling and sales.
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