By Kemi Akintokun
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged the media to play a frontline role in the agency’s efforts to eradicate drug hawking and ripening of fruits with Carbide through their reportage.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC gave the task at a Media Sensitisation Workshop on Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide.
Adeyeye, represented by Dr Leonard Omokpariola, Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, NAFDAC, said there had been clarion calls by Nigerians on the need to take stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of drug hawking and ripening of fruits.
She said: “The flag-off for this sensitisation workshop today is again a fulfilment of my promise to sustain and strengthen NAFDAC’s existing collaboration with the Association of Health Journalists in Nigeria.
““This collaboration is aimed toward mobilising, educating, sensitising, and conscientising Nigerian Journalists to play frontline role in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide in Nigeria.
“It is my candid opinion that sensitization workshop of this nature is a training the Trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants will assume the role of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against these menace.
“The agency recently organised similar sensitisation workshops in eight cities across the country to raise awareness on the dangers of using bleaching creams.
“This was in line with our resolve to intensify and widen the scope of our publicity and public awareness campaigns as part of the transformative programmes of my second tenure of office.
“NAFDAC will constantly engage the mass media as we strive to bring down to the grassroot level positive impacts of our regulatory activities.”
The D-G noted that the menace of drug hawking and fruits ripening posed serious challenge to healthcare delivery system in the country and this underscored NAFDAC’s resolute determination to totally eradicate it.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that presentations were made by different facilitators who educated participants on different topics. (NAN)
