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In the last one year, NAFDAC under the leadership of Dr. Paul Orhii has improved upon the achievements of his predecessor. He has consolidated on the gains and legacy bequeathed by the last person at the helm of affairs. Last year, in a fundamental approach to radically solving pressing issues and tackling challenging situations, he completed several projects that seek to enhance the functionality and work output of its staff all over the country.
In addition, his dedication to waging war against the country’s counterfeiting cabal, grinding their nefarious activities to a halt, despite all the attendant pressures, shows a man ready to swim in murky waters, excel at the highest level of public service and imprint his footsteps in the sands of time.
Last year, he consolidated regulating blueprint and strategic action plans of combating importation of sub-standard food items and counterfeit products. Through a more proactive approach and a comprehensive and intelligent monitoring process, several counterfeit products and medicines were intercepted at the point of entry into the country. Some of those products were kept within NAFDAC premises under 24-hour surveillance until all incriminating pieces of evidence were obtained, the suspects paraded and prosecuted and the seized contrabands destroyed.
The agency also got two persons to face charges of producing fake and counterfeit products, particularly unauthorised production of Maxiquine Syrup for children, at a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. Another person faced a three-count charge of selling and distributing unregistered cosmetic products. The agency had a press briefing earlier in the year during which it highlighted its efforts in combating fake products.
This year alone, many hideouts where counterfeiters produce fake products have been raided. For example, traders, touts and miscreants in Lagos and Ogun markets early September, attacked officials of the agency and the mobile policemen attached to its enforcement directorate. During the course of their nationwide raid on fake, unregistered and contaminated vegetable oil in markets and distribution outlets in the states, touts and traders descended on the hapless workers, repossessed some of the fake products already evacuated by the team and beat some of them up.
According to a statement by the agency, “the exercise which was almost successful, turned rowdy when members of the union at markets trooped out in their hundreds with the help of ‘area boys’ thus preventing the enforcement team from evacuating the offending MOi-Gold Vegetable oil and other products already seized from the markets. The spate of attacks did not abate in all the major markets visited by the team despite the presence of heavily armed mobile policemen attached to the teams. It was more surprising to know that this same Moi-Gold Vegetable Oil was found fully stocked in a warehouse in Ibadan.
Following a simultaneous operation, the enforcement team sealed off a warehouse and five shops with over 1,500 kegs of the prohibited vegetable oil at Agbeni and Bodija markets. The process of re-bagging and rebranding of expired rice in new sacks labelled Rising Sun Parboiled Rice was ongoing when the operatives arrived there. The agency said the products were sold without prior laboratory tests and were not certified fit for human consumption.
A team of NAFDAC inspectors also uncovered a fake drug depot in Asaba, Delta State. The agency staff raided an apartment in that state capital where assorted unapproved drugs worth N40million were packaged for unsuspecting customers. The owner of the drugs is to be charged to court. Similarly in Warri, also Delta State, another set of inspectors seized N25million worth of expired drugs. In this particular operation, 15 shops were sealed and three traders arrested.
In Jigawa State N4million worth of unregistered drugs were seized and two persons held. In Lagos, it was the same story with N5million worth of unapproved drugs seized from five warehouses. Two persons were charged to court, accused of distributing unauthorised drugs. The series of raids, periodic, surveillance and market inspections that have taken place all over the federation are aimed at drastically reducing the circulation of fake drugs and in the long run completely eradicating the menace.
So far, it is believed that the raids have brought down circulation levels of fake anti-malaria drugs from 19 per cent to three. This is undoubtedly a rare feat considering the fact that it was previously 64 per cent to 19 per cent before the coming of Dr. Orhii. This has been made possible because of increasing regulatory pressures and the drive as well as introduction of several sophisticated anti-counterfeiting technologies such as TruScan, Mobile Authentication Services (MAS), an SMS based swift confirmation service and Deep Infrared Technology in the fight against counterfeiters.
TruScan Analyser for raw material identification and finished product inspection is a trailblazing invention that delivers reliable analysis in seconds, right at the point of need to decrease sampling costs and increase inventory turns. It is a hand-held device extensively used to screen out counterfeit substances and reduce supply chain risk. It is designed for intuitive operation; its non-destructive point-and-shoot sampling facilitates rapid identification of a broad range of chemical compounds through sealed packaging to minimize the risk of contamination and exposure.
The analyser requires minimal training and has an audit trail for GMP compliance. Both TruScan RM and GP hand-held analyser is designed to provide cost-effective material quality control to pharmaceutical manufacturers and chemical companies in emerging global markets. Sproxil which has specialty in cloud-based Mobile Product Authentication Technology powers the Mobile Authentication System. NAFDAC has already launched this service with the aim of putting the power of product verification right in the hands of the consumer. The NAFDAC MAS is easy to use.
At the point of purchase of any pharmaceutical products, scratch the Sproxil label on the product to reveal a 12-digit PIN, text in the unique PIN to the short code 38353 (text is free of charges), you will receive a response within seconds indicating if the product is genuine, fake or stolen. This process works anywhere in Nigeria where you can get mobile phone services and on any GSM network: Globacom, Airtel, MTN and Etisalat. This service remains the largest nation-wide implementation of consumer-facing SMS anti-counterfeiting technology in the world.
Dr. Orhii has also built a mini-laboratory to test the genuineness of products through qualitative and quantitative analysis. All these plausible steps have taken the Agency closer to totally eradicating the distribution of counterfeit products. It is needless saying the war against products counterfeiting is greatly yielding positive results. Dr. Orhii constantly fosters a working partnership with relevant organisations that shares common drive, goals and passion for excellence.
By the acts establishing this agency, the federal government only pays the staff salaries while monies for the upkeep and financing of the recurrent expenditures accrues from its internally generated revenue (IGR), which according to records, has been on the increase in the past few months. NAFDAC new office in Isolo, Lagos was opened on June 1, last year. The office has ample parking space, a water treatment plant and electricity generating set, security posts and posh restaurants. These projects were wholly financed from the agency’s IGR. Thanks to which is Orhii’s thoughtfulness, innovations and ingenuity.
The agency organises seminars, summits and exhibitions for training and re-training of personnel. It integrates Youth Corps members after their national service and sees to their active participation in the industrial training scheme for undergraduates as well as providing internship platform for young intern pharmacists. Dr. Orhii and his entire staff can look back to 2015 with aplomb and with smiles, knowing they were only able to achieve feats through an unwavering dedication to quality service delivery and coming away with an excellent scorecard and a praiseworthy appraisal in the face of a daunting task.
-TheGuardian