Ondo descends on fake drug dealers
The Ondo State government has vowed to rid the state of fake and adulterated drugs with a warning to dealers involved in the illegitimate trade to either quit it or vacate the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro, said the need to eradicate the menace had become non-negotiable in order to allow qualitative healthcare services being provided by the government to function appropriately.
The Commissioner gave the warning during an outing last Friday with the Ondo State Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs.
The task force had confiscated some adulterated and fake drugs from some patent medicine stores in Akure, the state capital.
The task force also sealed off some patent medicine stores found to be in possession of unregistered drugs without NAFDAC numbers and those meant to be dispensed only by pharmacists.
Adegbenro, who was represented by the acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Dipo Durojaye, declared that the state government, after making arrest, would embark on making public the identities and locations of patent medicine stores involved in such crimes and hand them over to the police for prosecution.
The Commissioner advised residents of the state to desist from patronising fake drugs dealers, warning that fake drugs were injurious to health, and that the damage they cause may be irreversible.