As part of its efforts to promote and ensure the safety of the Nigerian citizens and also put the axe to the activities of fraudulent individuals who produce fake drugs in the country, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has begun the enforcement of the anti-counterfeiting technologies called the Mobile Authentication Service (MAS), which was introduced since 2010. This action was taken to achieve President Goodluck Jonathan’s declarative statement on zero tolerance to counterfeit drugs in the country.
MAS is a service that enables consumers to verify the authenticity of a drug by texting a unique 10-digit code, hidden underneath a scratch-off panel that comes with the pack, to a specific number. Consumers immediately receive a response confirming whether the drug is NAFDAC approved, the company that manufactured the drug and its address, the registration and batch number of the drug, the expiry date, and a number to call and report any issues. With this new technology NAFDAC hopes to eliminate the scourge of counterfeit drugs once and for all.
According to the NAFDAC website, the enforcement operation which started in Abuja on Wednesday, 2nd July, 2014 under the auspices of the Pharmacovigilance and Post Marketing Surveillance Directorate of NAFDAC was geared towards mopping up from circulation all anti-malarial and anti-biotic medicines that do not carry on their labels, the MAS scratch and text authentication codes which were introduced since 2010 by NAFDAC’s Director-General, Dr. Paul Orhii to save consumers from the menace of fake drugs. He made it public that the scratch and text service (MAS) has put the power of detecting counterfeit drugs in the hands of over 100million mobile phone users in the country.
Dr. Orhii said there is no going back on enforcement of compliance with the MAS deadline which has previously been shifted twice in the last 3years due to plea for more time by segment of the pharmaceutical industry. He added that NAFDAC has the full support of the President and Honourable Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu to enforce implementation of the service in a bid to eradicate counterfeit drugs in the country.
He disclosed that firm instruction has been given to all NAFDAC offices across the country to go round various pharmaceutical outlets to enforce compliance as deadline is irreversible and sacrosanct. Meanwhile, the Enforcement team led by Director of PVG/BMS, Mrs. Adeline Osakwe cracked down on over 50 pharmacies in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja who were found to have stocked anti-malarial and anti-biotic drugs without the scratch and text codes.