Following a recent audit of the substance carried out by National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Federal Ministry of Health recalled 2.4 million bottles of cough syrup containing codeine.
In a statement by Mrs Boade Akinola, Director Media and Public Relations of the Ministry, the recall demonstrated the Federal Government’s resolve to stem the abuse of codeine and other substances in Nigeria.
Akinola stated that the minister had recently received the final report of the 22-man Stakeholders Committee set up by the Ministry to address the worrisome menace of codeine abuse in Nigeria.
She quoted the Minister of Health Prof Isaac Adewole as saying that the audit trail and subsequent recall of the substance was part of recommendations of Stakeholders Committee set by the ministry to address codeine abuse in Nigeria.
The Minister said the committee members were drafted from a broad spectrum of the health sector in collaboration with relevant agencies as part of Pharmacovigilance and renewed effort to monitor drug distribution channels and sanitise the system.
The Minister recalled that the committee was an offshoot of the Press release issued by the Ministry on the temporary ban of Codeine production and distribution.
He said the committee has Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Christianah Adeyeye as the Chairman. Other members include Muhammad Abdullahi, Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Elijah Mohamed, the Registrar of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria; Mr Moshood Lawal, Director, Food and Drugs Services, Federal Ministry of Health; Ahmed Yakasai, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) among others.
The Federal Government had in May 2018 banned the production and importation of codeine as active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough syrup preparations to check substance abuse among Nigerians.
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