Over 50% of drugs in Nigeria are fake, Pharmacists warn of “National emergency”
Over 50% of drugs in Nigeria are fake, Pharmacists warn of “national emergency”
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has raised an alarming concern, stating that over 50% of medicines currently in circulation within Nigeria may be fake or substandard. This figure significantly surpasses official estimates, which typically range between 13% and 15%.
The ACPN is calling this surge in counterfeit drugs a “national emergency,” warning that the country is regressing to the dangerous era of the late 1990s when widespread fake medicines led to treatment failures and fatalities.
Pharm. Ezeh Igwekamma, National Chairman of the ACPN, disclosed this grim assessment in a statement released ahead of the association’s 44th Annual International Conference.
“Our usually reliable and dependable research-based efforts indicate that we are back to the days of over 50 percent of drugs in circulation being fake and substandard as against official figures hovering between 13 and 15 percent,” he stated.
Igwekamma attributes this disturbing trend to weakened regulatory enforcement, noting that both Federal and State Task Forces on counterfeit medicines have become largely inactive.
He also highlighted the immense economic scale of the illicit fake drug and drink industry, describing it as a “tens-of-billion-naira business championed by modern-day merchants of death.”
In response to this crisis, the ACPN is urging the National Assembly to urgently amend the existing Fake Drug and Unwholesome Processed Food Act to empower regulators with stronger enforcement tools.
The ACPN Chairman did commend a recent collaboration between the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).
This partnership led to the sealing of the notorious Sabon-Gari open drug market and the operationalization of Nigeria’s first Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in Kano, a move seen as a positive step towards a more regulated drug distribution system.
The ACPN’s upcoming 44th Annual International Conference, themed “Technology Integration, Personalised Care: The Future of Community Pharmacy Practice,” is set to gather over 3,000 delegates from Nigeria and abroad.
The conference aims to address pressing issues in pharmaceutical care and will feature a ‘Walk Against Fake and Counterfeit Medicines’.
It will also include keynote addresses, exhibitions, and policy roundtables, all focused on promoting technology-driven, personalized pharmaceutical care as a long-term solution to Nigeria’s medicine quality crisis.
“Our goal is clear: to ensure that every Nigerian has access to safe, effective, and personalized medicines from licensed community pharmacies. We must end this era of impunity in fake drug circulation before more lives are lost,” Pharm. Igwekamma asserted.
He called on all stakeholders from pharmacists and technologists to lawmakers and consumers to support efforts to transform Nigeria’s pharmaceutical landscape through innovation and stricter regulation.
