FG Recalls 2.4 Million Bottles Of Codeine Syrup

The Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, says the Ministry has recalled 2, 405, 724 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.

This is after a recent audit trail carried out by National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), three months after the ban on the production and importation of the substance as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough syrup preparations, to checkmate abuse among Nigerians.

Adewole had sad this while receiving the final report of the stakeholders’ committee set up by the ministry to address the worrisome menace of abuse of codeine in Abuja, “The Federal Ministry of Health has recalled 2, 405,724 million bottles of codeine cough syrup after a recent audit trail of the substance carried out by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.”

He further said the move was part of efforts to further demonstrate the Federal Government’s resolve to stem the abuse of codeine and other substances in Nigeria.

“The audit trail and subsequent recall of the substance was part of the recommendations submitted by the 22-man committee drafted from a broad spectrum of the health sector to collaborate with relevant agencies as part of renewed efforts to actively monitor drug distribution channels and sanitise the system,” he said.

Recalling, the minister explained that the committee was a branch of the press release issued by the ministry on the temporary ban of codeine production and distribution and further directive for NAFDAC to convene a committee of stakeholders to chart the way forward.

The committee had as members, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye (chairman); Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Muhammad Abdullah; Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Elijah Mohammed; Director, Food and Drugs Services of the health ministry, Moshood Lawal; President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ahmed Yakasai; Executive Secretary, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN), Dr. Okey Akpa, among others.