ASSESSMENT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL (NAFDAC) IN THE CONTROL OF FAKE DRUGS IN KADUNA STATE
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Date
2019
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Abstract
The proliferation of drugs as a global cancer, has eaten deep into the healthof the general
public. It is the greatest evil of our time and the highest weapon of terrorism against public
health, as well as an act of economic sabotagethat has led to organ dysfunction, disabilities,
worsening of disease condition, loss of public confidence in public health and led to the death
of many in the globe and Nigeria is not an exception.Most of these drugs are brought into the
state and not necessarily produced within Kaduna State threatening the health of the people in
the state. It is for this reason that the Federal Government of Nigeria established
NAFDACwith the goal of eliminating counterfeit pharmaceuticals, foods and beverages
products ensuring that available medications are safe and effective. This necessitated the need
to assess the activities of NAFDAC in the control of fake drugs in Kaduna State.The specific
objectives of the study are to determine the effect of the contribution of inspection of
imported regulated products by NAFDAC on the control of fake drugs in Kaduna State; to
examine the contribution of registration of drugs by NAFDAC on the control of fake drugs in
Kaduna Stateamongst others. The study adopted “Fishbein Model and Social Control Theory
by Travis Hirschi‟‟ as theoretical framework to underpin the study. The study adopted a
survey design where data collected from structured questionnaires and interview were
analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The total population of the study is
1, 664 with 313 as sample size. The study adopted purposive and simple stratified sampling
technique for the study. The chi-square cross-tabulation test was used in testing hypotheses of
the study using SSPS version 20.However, relevant documents that contain secondary data
for the study are the NAFDAC‟s Act, NAFDAC‟s Score Cards, and NAFDAC‟s Campaigns,
amongst others. The findings of the study shows that some of the factors affecting the inspection of drugs in Kaduna State ranges from shortage of personnel or inspectors to
monitor drug activities in Kaduna State due to large coverage size, shortage of scan machines
to enable personnel detect fake drugs easily to even chaotic drug market in the state. Hence,
the study recommends that the government should be willing to recruit new hands who are
specialist in their various fields of endeavor having the technical-know-how to help
NAFDAC in the execution of her activities and to ensure adequate coverage of the state in
other to carry out routine checks, etc. Furthermore, the government should continue to
empower NAFDAC to strengthen her efforts in the control of fake drugs in the state by
acquiring modern machines to upgrade the central laboratory and promote manpower training
and development. These, will go a long way to discouraging counterfeiters or fakers of drugs
and reducing the quantum of existing fake drugs in the state.