Standing L – R: Prof. Cyril Usifoh, President of PSN; Bunmi Femi-Oyekan, Pfizer’s Regulatory Director Sub Sahara Africa; Olayinka Subair, Pfizer’s Cluster Lead West Africa; and Gbenga Falabi the Secretary General of PSN.
BY Taiwo Adebulu
Pfizer, a global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, says there is a need for collaboration in the fight against the illicit trade of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.
The firm stated this recently when Cyril Usifoh, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), paid a courtesy visit to its office in Nigeria.
He was received by Olayinka Subair, the country manager/cluster lead for West Africa, who reiterated the need for industry players to join forces in creating awareness around the dangers of counterfeit medicine and pharmaceutical products.
“The threat of counterfeits is not going away. Pfizer is seeking collaboration with stakeholders on efforts to educate consumers about counterfeit medicines because patients need the knowledge to protect their health from counterfeiters,” Subair said.
According to him, counterfeit medicines often miss key ingredients and dosages or contain added harmful ingredients; hence, patients who take counterfeits, including life-saving medicines for cancer and heart disease, lose the therapeutic benefits they rely on to treat their conditions.
To tackle the threat of counterfeits to the health of patients, Subair said Pfizer is collaborating with industry stakeholders to ensure patients have the information they need to avoid counterfeit medicines.
“Pfizer is seeking collaboration with government agencies, pharmaceutical organisations, doctors, pharmacists, and industry partners to help raise awareness of the growing problem of counterfeit medicines,” Subair said.
“Together, we seek to tackle this threat to patient health by stopping counterfeits before they reach patients, giving consumers the information they need to make the right choices, and supporting health care providers in our communities.”
Usifoh said: “The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, as a body that seeks to maintain a high standard of professional ethics and discipline among its members, would give all the support to work together with Pfizer. We would see how we can amplify by reaching out to stakeholders and see how far we can go in driving this campaign successfully.”
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