From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Director General (DG) of National Agency for Foods and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, has described use of bleaching creams in the country as a national emergency.
Adeyeye said this in Maiduguri, yesterday, at the flag-off of North East zone media workshop on the danger of bleaching creams.
Represented by a Deputy Director in charge of Cosmetics and Medical Devices, Drug Evaluation andResearch, Ebele Anto, the DG said the 2018 World Health Organisation (WHO) study which showed that bleaching creams are prevalent among 77 per cent of Nigerian women, far higher than Togo’s 59 per cent, South Africa’s 35 per cent and Senegal which is 27 per cent.
“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 said.
She said the agency was adopting multi-pronged approach, including sensitisation meetings like the media workshops planned for all the six geo-political zones in the country.
“The sensitisation workshop is, therefore, a fulfilment of my promise to cascade it to the six geo-political zones in the country as a deliberate strategy of mobilising, educating, sensitising 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 said.
She said the sensitisation 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.