The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised the alarm over the nationwide proliferation of unapproved herbal products, which it describes as “dangerous”.
The NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that most of the herbal medicines were in the form of snuff and oral liquids, which she said were mainly sold by street hawkers.
She also noted that the enforcement team of the agency was commencing a nationwide clampdown on the manufacturers and traders who sold such “uncertified” products.
The professor said the agency has commenced a nationwide mop-up of a substance referred to as “sacra herbs” in circulation.
“We have also intensified crackdown on all illegal manufacturers and distributors of herbal preparations and other unregistered preparations with a view to bringing perpetrators to book and minimising the usage of these substances,” she said.
According to Adeyeye, it would also not be out of place to put on record some other related enforcement actions carried out late last year.
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“As it relates to the illegal manufacture, importation, advertisements and stay of unregistered herbal drugs, I want to assure Nigerians that NAFDAC is doing everything to ensure that only safe medicines and wholesome food of the right quality are sold to our citizenry,” she said.
“We are also making efforts to increase the number of staff that we have, because we need more staff to go on the street for surveillance and post-marketing and monitoring.”