NAFDAC urges journalists to play vital roles in eradicating menace of bleaching cream
The National Agency For Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged journalists in the country to play a vital role in concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needles waste of scare resources in Nigeria.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the call at a Media sensitisation workshop on dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls, which was organised for the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists in Southwest held at House of chiefs hall, secretariat, Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Adeyeye said the workshop is aimed at educating people on the dangers of bleaching cream, safeguarding the health of the people and ensure the consumers are well educated.
She explained that the agency has regulated actions to stem the dangerous tide of rampant and pervasive cases in Nigerians using bleaching creams.
“For retailers we do a lot of raids. A lot of people have lost quite big chunks of money because if you empty somebody’s shop, the whole shop, and that is a lot of money. For manufacturers, they have to come through us. If they do not come through us and we gather information about the problem with safety, we give a lot of administrative fines, are hefty fines also many times just to make sure there is deterrent that they think through what they are doing before they do it.
“We are going to heighten our surveillance of pass and also continue to create awareness because many people don’t even understand that mixing all these things may result in very, very bad effects on the user,” she said.
Adeyeye however advised Nigerians to be careful in what they use and not to bleach their skin to please anybody adding that continuous use of the chemicals would lead to dangerous health conditions.
In her welcome address, the zonal director of the agency, Roseline Ajayi, said the purpose of the training is to sensitize journalist on the danger of bleaching cream and regulate measures to control the misuse of bleaching creams in Nigeria.
