Drugs Law — Idris Calls For Cooperation  

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris has called on all Medical and Pharmaceutical organisations in the country to help in the enforcement of regulations of drugs and pharmaceutical products in the country.
Idris who made the call in Lagos  while receiving drugs valued at N22.5million donated to the  state government by the Association of Pharmaceutical Importers of Nigeria (APIN), explained that the fight against fake,  counterfeit and substandard drugs and unwholesome processed foods should not be left in the hands of government only but instead other  responsible organisations should partner with the government to rid the state and indeed the country of the menace of fake  and counterfeit drugs.
The Commissioner who was speaking apparently against the background of the raging menace of the teething product, My Pikin,  which has claimed the lives of many infants, said it  has brought to the fore questions about the  efficiency of drug regulations in the country especially in the area of manufacturing and importation of drugs and investable  items.
He therefore urged all pharmaceutical and medical associations and bodies to collaborate with governments in checking the  activities of manufactures and importers of fake, substandard drugs and unwholesome processed foods as well as ensure good  pharmaceutical practice and maintain a high drug quality.
Dr Idris believed that the state government in collaboration with pharmaceutical regulating agencies such as the Drugs Control Laboratory  and the Lagos State Task Force on Fake, Counterfeit and Unwholesome Processed Food would further help to reduce the menace of quackery
While thanking APIN for the gesture, he called on other well meaning Nigerians and corporate bodies to contribute their  quotas to the health sector of the state and the country at large stressing that a healthy nation is indeed a wealthy nation.
Earlier, the President of the Association, Mr. Nnamdi Obi noted that the gesture is part of the association's corporate  social responsibility stressing that the association is willing to partner with the state government in moving the state health  sector forward especially in the face of her emerging status as a mega city.
He noted that the state is the first to benefit from the association's largesse because of her peculiar size and ever  growing population.