By Hassan John
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has set out strategies to stop the use of the bleaching cream in Nigeria.
To achieve this, the agency has organized media sensitization campaign in order to educate journalists on the dangers of using bleaching cream.
Speaking at the flag off of the sensitisation campaign for journalists in the North Central Zone of the country in Jos, the Plateau state capital, at the weekend, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the practice is a needless waste of hard earned resources.
“Today’s sensitization workshop is therefore a fulfillment of my promise to cascade it to the six geo-political zones in the country as a deliberate strategy of mobilizing, educating, sensitizing, and challenging Nigerian Health Journalists to play frontline role in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needless waste of scarce resources in Nigeria.
“This sensitization workshop is a training the Trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants will assume role of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against use of bleaching creams.
“It is pertinent to mention that during my recent press conference in Abuja announcing my second tenure in office, I promised to continue the transformative agenda of my first tenure but intensify and widen the scope of our publicity and public awareness campaigns.
“I wish to assure you that NAFDAC will henceforth constantly engage the mass media as we strive to bring down to the grassroot level positive impacts of our regulatory activities,” the NAFDAC Director General said.
Represented by the Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research of the Agency, Dr. Leonard Omokpariola, the NAFDAC boss said statistics have shown that the menace of bleaching creams have become a national health emergency in Nigeria that requires a multi- faced regulatory approach.
Professor Mojisola Adeyeye identified cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, as well as premature skin ageing and prolonged to healing of wounds as some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams.
She expressed the hope that the media will sustain the support and collaboration with the Agency to rid the country of substandard and falsified medicines, unwholesome foods, corrosive cosmetics and other substandard regulated products.
Speaking, the President, Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ), Mr. Hassan Zaggi regretted that people use their hard earned money to buy bleaching creams that would, at the long run, put their lives at risk.
He appealed to journalists to take the training serious with the aim of educating their listeners and readers on the dangers of using bleaching cream.
“As journalists, it is our responsibility to educate our people and give them the information they need to live healthy lives. Therefore, the use of bleaching cream which has taken an alarming proportion in our country, hence, the need to tackle it by educating our people on its dangers. We must not fail our people on this.
“Most of the people using these bleaching cream do so out of ignorance, hence, we must let them know the dangers therein,” Mr. Zaggi said.
