Abia State government, through the Abia State Orientation Agency, has launched a sensitisation campaign against fake and substandard drugs in the State, describing the menace as a leading cause of organ failure, among citizens.
Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, who delivered a keynote during the event, described manufacturers and sellers of fake drugs as silent murderers.
He said that the use of fake drugs destroys the original purpose of drugs both to the human system and the economy.
The Commissioner highlighted the dangers of the use of fake drugs to include organ failure and other health complications.
He, however, said that Governor Alex Otti has been safeguarding Abia citizens from the unwholesome drugs and quack practitioners.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu noted that fake and substandard drugs and consumables were a problem of life and death but explained that the State government is committed to clamping down on its proliferation in the State.
Kanu said that the flight against fake and substandard drugs is now being escalated from advocacy to enforcement level.
Earlier in her welcome speech, the Director General, Abia State Orientation Agency, Ure Abazie raised the alarm that fake products are manufactured, packaged and labeled to deceive the consumers about their true characteristics.
The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) who spoke through their State Co-ordinators, Ejike Nnamani and Anthony Eneh respectively, said human lives were in danger because of fake drugs.
