People who manufacture or sell fake and substandard medicines could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty if a proposal by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, receives legislative backing.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the call during a State House briefing in Abuja, describing manufacturers and dealers of counterfeit and falsified regulated products as “silent killers” whose activities put innocent lives at risk.
Adeyeye said the agency’s recent crackdown had exposed the frightening scale of the counterfeit-products trade, with NAFDAC confiscating illicit, expired and substandard medical products estimated at more than one trillion naira.
The seized products reportedly included 87 truckloads of compromised medical supplies, among them donated antiretroviral drugs and contraceptives.
For patients who depend on medicines to survive, the consequences can be devastating.
A person battling malaria, HIV, hypertension, diabetes or another serious illness may believe they are taking a medicine that will save their life, only to discover too late that the product is fake, expired or dangerously substandard.
NAFDAC said its post-marketing surveillance and enforcement activities have so far produced 64 convictions nationwide, with offenders receiving prison sentences ranging from one to seven years without the option of a fine.
But Adeyeye believes the existing punishment is not enough to deter criminals who knowingly place human lives at risk.
She is therefore seeking much stiffer penalties, including life imprisonment or the death penalty, for those found guilty of manufacturing and dealing in counterfeit regulated products.
The proposal, however, will require action by the National Assembly. No bill has yet been introduced to establish the proposed penalties.
Beyond the battle against counterfeit products, Adeyeye disclosed that the crackdown has come at a personal cost.
She said threats to her life and those of NAFDAC personnel have forced her to operate under tight security, including round-the-clock police protection at her residences in Abuja and Lagos.
Adeyeye also disclosed that NAFDAC has cleared about N3.2 billion in inherited liabilities, including unpaid taxes and debts owed to contractors, since she assumed office.
The security concerns have drawn comparisons with the experience of the late former NAFDAC Director-General, Professor Dora Akunyili, who became internationally recognised for her aggressive campaign against counterfeit drugs.
NAFDAC says it will continue its enforcement operations while pursuing stronger legal sanctions.
For millions of Nigerians who depend on medicines every day, the stakes could hardly be higher.
A fake drug may look like medicine. But in the hands of a desperate patient, it can become a weapon.
