Benjamin Omoike l Monday, February 13, 2017
OJO, Lagos, Nigeria – The Lagos State Government has shut down 27 unregistered pharmacies and patent medicine shops in Ojo Local Government Area in an effort to rid the State of fake drugs and illegal drug shops.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Primary Health Care, Dr. Olufemi Onanuga, disclosed this in his office at the Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, shortly after the operation by the State Task Force on Counterfeit, Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods whose members include; representatives of National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Pharmacists’ Council of Nigeria (PCN), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Federal Taskforce on fake drugs and officers of the State Rapid Respond Squad (RRS).
Onanuga, who mentioned that the operation was the first outing this year, confirmed that 27 out of the 31 outlets visited in Ojo-Igbede, Ajangbadi, Ketu-Ayetoro, Iyana Era, Iyana Iba and Isashi as well as Seriki, Kembiri, Iba, Adaloko and Okokomaiko in Ojo Local Government Area of the State were sealed off for various offences, including engagement of quacks to man community pharmacies and operating beyond scope by licensed patent medicine shops through sale of ethical products and dispensing drugs to unsuspecting citizens.
Other offenses are the illegal operation of unregistered premises, displaying and storing drugs in unconducive environments which compromise the potency and integrity of the drugs products rendering them ineffective.
He lamented that though some of the pharmacies visited were registered, 95 per cent of them had no qualified pharmacists on ground to attend to the public resulting in the display of expired drugs for sale to the public.
He revealed that some of these premises also engaged in illegal clinical practices such as patient admission and drip setting of intravenous infusions. “This is unacceptable. We as a government will do the needful in terms of enforcing the law and sanctioning erring operators,” he said.
