Drug hawkers, merchants of death – NAFDAC

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has described drug hawkers as merchants of death, warning members of the public to keep their distance from them.

Director General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye who stated this in her address at a “Media Sensitization Workshop on the Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide” for select journalists from Abia, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River State held at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

This is as the NAFDAC DG also warned against consumption of fruits ripened with chemicals like calcium carbide and acetylene gas because of the grave health risks such fruits pose.

 Professor Adeyeye who said that the menace of drug hawking posed serious challenge to healthcare delivery system in the country, re-stated the determination of NAFDAC “to totally eradicate the illicit trade.”

The NAFDAC boss who was represented by the Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr Leonard Onokporiola, said that most of the drugs sold by “these semi-illiterate hawkers are fake and substandard”.

“Many drug hawkers are knowingly or unknowingly merchants of death who expose essential and Life Saving Medicines to the vagaries of inclement weather which degrade the active ingredients of the medicine and turn them to poisons thus endangering human lives.

“Most of the drugs sold by the illiterate and semi-literate drug hawkers are counterfeit, substandard or expired, and do not meet the quality, safety and efficacy requirement of regulated medicines.”

Professor Adeyeye regretted that”prescription drugs are also sold by the itinerant drug hawkers who also hold consultation, recommend and prescribe medicines to their gullible patients”.

She further said that “drug hawkers are also the major distributors and suppliers of narcotic medicines” to criminal networks such as armed bandits, insurgents, kidnappers and robbers.

Positing that drug hawkers constitute serious threat to national security, the NAFDAC boss solicited the cooperation of relevant security agencies and stakeholders as well as members of the public to clamp down on the perpetrators.

According to her, drugs are sensitive life-saving commodities which should not be sold on the streets/motor parks or open markets just like any other article of trade.

She warned that severe consequences await drug hawkers.

“Any drug hawker arrested by NAFDAC will be prosecuted,  face a jail term, and our Enforcement Officers are currently carrying out synchronized nation-wide operation.”

The NAFDAC boss gave tips on how to identify artificially-rippened fruits, said the practice is more pronounced with bananas, plantain and mango.

“They be ripe on the skin, the inside remains unripe. You can identify such artificially ripened fruits if you notice that the fruits are all yellow whereas the stem is dark, this is true especially with banana and plantain. In addition, naturally ripened fruits usually have brown or black spots, while those artificially ripened have traces of powdery substances and peel off quickly.”

She said that using carbide to rippen fruit renders the fruit useless and degrades the nutrients, thus making consumption of such fruit toxic and could cause cancer.

” Calcium carbide generally contains impurities such as arsenic, lead particles, phosphorus, etc., that pose several very serious health hazards.

“Consumption of fruits containing these impurities may cause cancer, heart, kidney and liver failure.

” They may also cause frequent thirst, irritation in mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, skin ulcer and so forth.

“Higher exposure may cause undesired fluid build-up in lungs (pulmonary oedema).

“Acetylene produced by Calcium Carbide affects the neurological system and reduces oxygen supply to the brain and further induces prolonged hypoxia.

“The impurities are hazardous to pregnant women and children and may lead to headache, dizziness, mood disturbances, mental confusion, memory loss, cerebral oedema (swelling in the brain caused by excessive fluids), sleepiness, seizure etc.

“Calcium Carbide is alkaline in nature and erodes the mucosal tissue in the abdominal region and disrupts intestinal functions.

“Consuming such artificially ripened fruits could result in sleeping disorders, mouth ulcers, skin rashes, kidney problems and possibly even cancer.

“Other symptoms of poisoning include diarrhoea (with or without blood), burning or tingling sensation in abdomen and chest difficulty in swallowing, irritation in eyes/skin, sore throat, cough, shortness in breathing, numbness etc.”

In a remark, South East, South South Zonal Coordinator of NAFDAC, Mr Chike Obiano, said consumption of fruits ripened with chemicals was a major cause of health complications in the country.

He said the menace of ripening fruits with carbide should be stopped urgently because of the grave health implications.

Mr Obiano further regretted that Nigeria had become the epicenter of drug abuse, saying that the country alone accounts for about 14 per cent of global record of drug abuse.

He appealed to the media to help sensitise the public on the grave dangers of the harmful practice of drug hawking and rippening of fruits with calcium carbide.

Various resource persons delivered lectures on the inherent dangers posed by consumption of fruits ripened with chemicals as well as drug hawking.