the person of Munachi Obiekwe and as we mourn the
death of this young man, I ask myself how could we
pharmacists see how our actions and inactions are
contributing to the deaths of fellow Nigerians and we
all shut up because no one wants to say he was the
one that spoke up first.
Well, I think I need to speak first on this issue because
for a long time I have been watching how pharmacists
by their inaction have been watching concoctions
otherwise known as HERBAL BITTERS destroy the
kidney and liver of our fellow country men and we do
nothing about them.
I say I hold pharmacists working at
NAFDAC personally responsible because they are the
gatekeepers and whatever they allow into the society
is what will be consumed.
Recently, Nigerian market has been flooded with
every kind of concoction and they all have been
branded as herbal bitters. The makers of the these
bitters hawk it in a manner that is so despicable that
you wonder how can a nation a with pharmacists
allow its people to be destroyed and yet do nothing
because we want to make money?
As pharmacists we all did Toxicology in school and we
all know the toxic implication of most substances
especially so called herbal remedy on the kidney and
liver. Toxicology taught us that a lot of plants can
be very toxic to the kidney and liver. Toxicology
taught is that herbal products usually interact
negatively and dangerously with orthodox medicine
yet these herbal medicines are administered
concurrently with orthodox medications
Yet under our watch as pharmacists of this
generation, we watch all kinds of Local concoctions
been unleashed on our society. The painful part is that
NAFDAC is doing practically little or nothing to check
this very ugly trend. How can NAFDAC register the
kinds of concoctions been hawked around?
Did anyone really take time to analyse the content of
these medications? Most frightening to me as a
pharmacist is the dosage and administration pattern
the sellers recommend. How can someone be telling
Nigerians that because the product they sell is herbal,
that it is not harmful, that it does not have a dosage
regimen but most amazing is that they
recommend you mix it with alcohol or spirit to get the
best out of it.
But scientifically, we all know that all these claims are
blatant lies. As pharmacists We all did pharmacognosy
in school and for Christ sake, we know that herbal
products have dosage and side effects. If they do not
have dosage, how come foreign herbal products have
specific dosage and side effects and contra
indications?
Because we chose to keep quiet, suddenly, the
incidence of Kidney failure and Liver failure in Nigeria
has gone up. The failure is not only affecting the poor
but its now getting to the prominent like
Munachi Obiekwe, Chaz B of inspiration FM Lagos, yet
nobody is trying to draw any correlation between the
uncensored sales of concoctions as herbal bitters and
the unprecedented jump in Kidney failures.
There is one thing you will always find in recent times
on any Ethiopian airline flight coming back to Nigeria
from India and its a young Nigerian who has gone for
a kidney transplant. We have health officials who are
pharmacists at our airports, how come nobody is
asking why so many Nigerians are going for kidney
transplant all of a sudden?
I say I heap all the blames at the door steps of
pharmacists working at NAFDAC because the only
thing that give these concoctions credibility is that the
sellers boldly display their NAFDAC number and once
a Nigerian sees these number he or she believes that
the products are safe.
I am also know that during the registration of these so
called SAFE BITTERS, that NAFDAC will insist that a
warning be put on the packet just like the one on
cigarette pack, clearing warning people that the
product has not been proven to be safe or effective
yet after the approval, the manufacturers delete these
warnings, claim that their products are very safe, yet
nobody from NAFDAC bothers to correct them.
Products from USA have these warnings from FDA on
them but they disappear on NAFDAC registered
products once they hit market.
What happened to the responsible pharmacists we
used to have at NAFDAC, why did the fire in them die
after Dora Akunyili left? Why is someone not
screaming out to the Ogas at the top in NAFDAC,
that we are destroying the lives of our people by our
inaction or our greed. I say greed because I cannot
see how what you say is dangerous and someone is
claiming in front of you that its very safe and you are
not saying anything.
Well, God told Ezekiel in the bible if He asks him to go
and tell a wicked man to turn from his wickedness
and Ezekiel refused to warn the wicked man, that the
man will die and suffer his sins but God will hold
Ezekiel responsible for his death but if He instructs
Ezekiel to warn a wicked man and Ezekiel warns the
man but the man continues in his sin, that the man
will die and suffer for his sins but Ezekiel will be free of
all responsibility for the man's death.
I personally want to use this medium to shout out as
an Ezekiel. I do not want God asking me when I want
to check into my mansion in heaven why I did not
warn my colleagues to do something about the
destruction of the kidneys and Livers of millions of
Nigerians that he took special time to design. I want to
stand before my God any day he calls me and tell him
that on so and so day. I screamed out to my fellow
pharmacists.
Pharmacists at NAFDAC, what will you say if God asks
you about the Kidneys and livers that are
been destroyed by the products you approved and
under your watch? What will you say to God. I know
that at least three Directors in NAFDAC follow my
posts and I want to use this medium to appeal to their
conscience and remind them that we owe it as a duty
to protect the Kidneys and livers and lives of our
fellow Nigerians.
May the soul of Munachi Obiekwe and the Soul of all
the faithful departed through the mercy of od rest in
peace. By rich nigerian pharmacists onlin
No comments:
Post a Comment