The National Agency For Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has pleaded with Journalists in the country to play a vital role in the drive to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the call at a one-day media sensitisation workshop on dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls, organised for the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists in Southwest, held at House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Adeyeye said the workshop was aimed at educating people on the dangers of bleaching cream, safeguarding the health of the people and ensuring the consumers are well educated.
The professor explained that the agency has regulated actions to stem the tide of rampant and pervasive cases in Nigerians using the bleaching creams.
“For retailers, we have done a lot of raids. A lot of people have lost quite big chunk of money because if you empty somebody’s shop, 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’ll fine them. We give a lot of administrative fines; we also give hefty fines, just to make sure there is deterrent.
“We are going to heighten our surveillance and also continue to create awareness because many people don’t even understand that mixing all these things may result in bad effects on the users,” she said.
Adeyeye, however, cautioned Nigerians to be wary of what they use and the bleaching of their skins, 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 was to sensitise journalists on the danger of bleaching cream and regulatory measures to control their misuse.
