The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria have sealed 1370 wholesale medicine outlets and packing stores in Kano state for refusing to relocate to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre, (CWC)
The sealed outlets are to report to the offices of NAFDAC and PCN at the Coordinated Wholesale Centre in Dangwauro area of Kano to arrange for the relocation of their businesses to the Centre.
The Director General of NAFDAC Prof Mojisola Adeyeye stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the relocation of open drug marketers to Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in Kano.
Prof Adeyeye explained that over the years the medicine dealers in Kano have resisted all attempts by concerned regulatory authorities to relocate their pharmaceutical businesses from the open drug markets in Mai Karami plaza, Niger street, Malam Kato and Sabon Gari areas of Kano to the coordinated wholesale centres in Dangwauro area of the state.
Prof Adeyeye said the Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWC) was established to address the chaotic drug distribution system in Nigeria through the movement of medicine from the manufacturer to the final consumer leading to substandard and falsified medicines in circulation.
‘’The dealers even filed a suit in court seeking to reject relocation to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre.
A landmark judgement was made by Justice Simon Amobeda in Kano Federal High Court on February 16, 2024, who ordered the open drug marketers in Kano to relocate their stores to Dangwauro Coordinated Wholesale Center (CWC), Zaria Road, Kano.
Sequel to this court ruling the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in conjunction with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) on 17th and 18th of February 2024 embarked on an enforcement action to cause the relocation of the medicine dealers from the open drug markets of Sabon Gari, Malam Kato and Mai Karaimi to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre.
A total of one thousand three hundred and seventy (1,370) wholesale medicine outlets and packing stores were sealed in the three open drug markets. The owners of these outlets are to from Monday 19th February 2024 report to the offices of NAFDAC and PCN, at the Coordinated Wholesale Centre in Dangwauro area of Kano to arrange for the relocation of their businesses to the Centre.
The judgement that the open drug marketers should move to the Kano CWC is monumental because the control of drug distribution will be better regulated and prevalence of substandard medicines will be mitigated significantly, Prof Adeyeye stated.’’
Prof Adeyeye urged Medicine dealers in Lagos, Onitsha and Aba to be ready to move into the CWCs in the respective cities as soon as such facilities were built.
She said medicine dealers should see the move to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre as a positive move for the survival of public health and as part of efforts to continue the fight against Substandard and Falsified medicines.
Prof Adeyeye stressed that removing Substandard and Falsified (SF) medicines from circulation would make Nigerians healthier and said only healthy bodies can contribute positively to the economy.