Traders at Bridge-Head Drug Market, Onitsha on Thursday handed over expired drugs worth N25 million to NAFDAC in Anambra.
Mr Kenneth Nwosu, Chairman of Onitsha Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers Union (OPPMDU), told news men in Onitsha, Anambra.
He said most of them were submitted to the union executives by the traders; while some were seized by the Task Force against Expired, Fake and Sub-standard Drugs.
“They are products of many pharmaceutical companies within and outside the country. We also handed over a handful of fake drugs discovered by the task force.
“NAFDAC had deposited the expired drugs in their store in Agulu to take proper record of them pending their destruction’’, he said.
Nwosu said the union had re-enforced its task force to enable members to work round the clock.
“We have opened more channels of information flow between the traders and the task force. People can now drop information in a box without mentioning their names.
“The task force will track down any suspicious product or dealers’’, he said.
Dr Christiana Esenwah, Assistant Director of NAFDAC in-charge of Onitsha Special Zonal Office, commended the traders for their bold initiative to rid the market of expired drugs.
Esenwah said the agency was still looking up to the market executives to do more and sensitise its members on the importance of retaining public confidence by selling only wholesome drugs.
“We are grateful for this step and urge you to do more as well as rid this market of unwholesome, expired, fake and sub-standard drugs for the benefit of all’’, she said.