Lagos, Dec 02: The Nigerian agency fighting fake and adulterated drugs has blacklisted 19 Indian and Chinese firms accused of manufacturing counterfeit medicines, the agency said here today. "We have blacklisted and banned 19 Indian and Chinese companies confirmed to be counterfeit drug producers from importing drugs to Nigeria," the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dora Akunyili, said in a document made available today.
"It is noteworthy that most of the fake/counterfeit drugs in Nigeria are imported from Asia and over 98 per cent of these are from China and India," she said in the document sent to the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Some European countries like Belgium serve as a transit point for the fake drugs, said Akunyili.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has also banned the importation of drugs labelled "for export only," she said.
"Any drug that cannot be used in the country of manufacture is unacceptable in Nigeria," she said in the document.
Last month, NAFDAC said that all drugs imported from China will be subject to pre-shipment inspection and analysis.
About 70 per cent of drugs in circulation in Nigeria are either fake or adulterated, according to health officials.
Bureau Report