NAFDAC warns against use of 'dangerous' unapproved herbal medicine

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued a warning over the "dangerous" nationwide growth of unlicensed herbal items.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the director general of NAFDAC, stated to journalists in Abuja on Monday that the majority of herbal medications were sold as snuff and oral liquids, primarily by street vendors.

She said that the agency's enforcement team was starting a broad crackdown on the producers and sellers of such "uncertified" goods.

The professor claimed that the government has started a statewide sweep-up of a substance known as "sacra herbs" that is in use.

“We have also intensified crackdown on all illegal manufacturers and distributors of herbal preparations and other unregistered preparations with a view to bringing perpetrators to book and minimising the usage of these substances,” she said.

Adeyeye asserts that it would also be appropriate to mention some further enforcement actions from late last year that were relevant.

“As it relates to the illegal manufacture, importation, advertisements and stay of unregistered herbal drugs, I want to assure Nigerians that NAFDAC is doing everything to ensure that only safe medicines and wholesome food of the right quality are sold to our citizenry,” she said.

"We are also making efforts to increase the number of staff that we have, because we need more staff to go on the street for surveillance and post-marketing and monitoring.”

Source