Probe Online Drug Dealers, Reps Order NAFDAC

Reps Call On NAFDAC To Investigate Online Drug Sellers
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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been implored by the House of Representatives to monitor the conduct of online drug advertisers and sellers in Nigeria.

This emerged after Rep. Onofiok Luke (PDP-Akwa-Ibom) proposed a motion in Abuja on Tuesday.

Luke, who introduced the motion, asserted that there was a need to regulate online advertisers and drug sellers because they were delivering marketing messages to an undisclosed and intended audience.

According to Luke, this was intended to persuade the targeted customers to take a specific action, such as purchasing a product.

Read Also: Why We Can’t Use Herbal Drugs For COVID–19 Treatment- NAFDAC

He added that because it was cost-effective and easy to reach people, digital advertising had become progressively essential to business proprietors and service providers around the globe

Online vendors had harnessed of unrestricted internet access and social media platforms to advertise and sell unauthorized and sometimes phoney pharmaceuticals to naïve members of the public, according to the Rep.

He went on to point out that Nigerians were being compelled to buy drugs spanning from dietary supplements to cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals such as tramadol and aspirin, as well as Viagra.

The medications were typically obtained without a doctor’s recommendation or pharmacist’s guidance, according to the lawmaker.

He said that the legislation required that any medicine or related product advertisement be accurate, comprehensive, transparent, and aimed to increase public confidence and trust.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian House of Representatives has asked the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to collaborate with internet advertising corporations such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter to monitor, control, and implement laws.

The House also encouraged the Nigerian Pharmacists Council to discipline and penalise anyone marketing or promoting drugs online without the appropriate authorisation, as required by law.

The House also called on the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to take appropriate measures to safeguard online drug users.

AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK

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