From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Director General of the National Agency for Foods and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye
has described use of bleaching creams in the country as a national emergency.
Adeyeye said this in Maiduguri on Wednesday at the flag-off of Northeast Zone Media workshop on the danger of bleaching creams.
Represented by a deputy director in charge of Cosmetics and medical devices, drug evaluation and research, Ebele Anto, the DG said the 2018 World Health Organisation (WHO) study which showed that bleaching creams are prevalent among 77 percent of Nigerian women, far higher than Togo’s 59 percent, s
South Africa’s 35 percent and Senegal which is 27 percent.
“This scary statistic has shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multi-faced regulatory approach,”she declared.
She said the agency was adopting “multi-pronged approach” )inudong sensitization meetings like the media workshops planned for all the six geo-political zones in the country.
such as this and heightened raids on distribution outlets of bleaching creams,” she
“The sensitization workshop is therefore a fulfillment of my promise to cascade it to the six geo-political zones in the country as a deliberate strategy of mobilizing, educating, sensitizing, and challenging Nigerian Health Journalists to play frontline role in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needless waste of scarce resources in Nigeria,” she explained.
She said the sensitization workshop was aimed at raising vanguards for campaigns against the use of bleaching creams.
According to her, bleaching creams are harmful and can cause cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin ageing and prolong healing of wounds among others.