National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has warned that unregulated goods and products are harmful to human health.
The agency’s Director General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning on Thursday in Benin City, Edo State, at the continuation of its nation-wide sensitisation programme.
She said that it has become apparent to let the public know the dangers posed by the consumption of substandard goods.
Prof Adeyeye, who was represented by the Director of Narcotics and Controlled Substance, Dr. Unar Musa, said the campaign is meant to address public health challenges such as buying medicines from hawkers rather than purchasing from licensed pharmacies and medicine stores.
Her words: “The advent of COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the problem with the challenges posed by substandard and falsified Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
“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.
“Others 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 trans-fat 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.”
Adeyeye said that the public awareness campaign remained one of the veritable mechanisms to promote and protect the health of the people.
She noted that the key objective of this sensitisation programme is to intensify and expand the scope of both formal and informal behaviour, and change communication strategies in order to reach the vulnerable communities especially at the grassroots.
