Nigeria to end open drugs market in 2018, says health minister

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has said the federal government is determined to stop the sale of drugs in open markets in the country at the end of 2018.

Mr Adewole made this known when he visited the site for the construction of a Pharmaceutical Coordinated Wholesale Center at Oba, near Onitsha in Anambra, according to a web posting by the Association of Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NIROPHARM). The federal government had previously announced July 31, 2017 as the deadline to end the sale of drugs in open markets.

“Maybe people still believe that the federal government is joking, government does not joke. We do not want fake drugs or falsified labels; we just want genuine drugs and the only way to do so is centralizing the drug market so that we can determine what comes in and what goes out. We have agreed to extend the deadline till December 31, 2018 and that will be the last extension. We are irrevocably committed. By January 1, 2019, if you are not here at the coordinated center, then you cannot be anywhere. I am saying it with all seriousness that this is the last extension,” he said. Mr Adewole commended the Anambra government for supporting the project, and urged the leadership of the drug market in the state to settle their disputes amicably.

On a visit with the state’s Deputy Governor, he also commended Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for waging war against fake and counterfeit drugs in the country. In an interview, the NAFDAC acting director general, Yetunde Oni, called on all stakeholders in drug business to join hands to safeguard the health of the nation. According to her, the reason for the coordinated center is to ensure that any drug under the facility is in appropriate drug storage conditions.

“Such drugs must be registered, must be of the right quality, safe and efficacious for use because it is impacting on the health and wellbeing of the society,” said Mrs Oni.