The National Agency For Food And Drug Administration And Control, NAFDAC has decried the increasing use and abuse of bleaching creams in the country.
NAFDAC said dangers associated with bleaching creams could lead to health problems that could eventually become life-threatening.
Director General of the agency, Professor Moji Adeyeye, raised the concern in Ibadan on Friday at the southwest zonal media sensitisation workshop on the dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls.
She said people who continue to use and patronise bleaching creams as well as related cosmetic products risk becoming susceptible to cancer and organ system toxicity.
She said: “Last year, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, acting on the resolution of the senate, wrote to NAFDAC stressing the need to take stringent regulatory action to stem the dangerous tide of rampant and pervasive cases of Nigerians using bleaching creams.
“We immediately took some decisive steps such as sensitisation of the public through different media outlets, enforcement through intelligence and raids on trade complexes that have resulted in large seizures and destruction of violating products.”
The DG also said that the disturbing statistics of people who bleach their skin in Nigeria necessitated NAFDAC’s heightened awareness campaign and clamping down on violating products.
While urging Nigerians to shun bleaching creams, Professor Adeyeye called on the media to collaborate with the agency to help take the message to the grassroots for greater effectiveness.
She noted that: “A World Health Organization’s (WHO) study in 2018 revealed that use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77% of Nigerian women, which was the highest in Africa compared to 59% in Togo, 35% in South Africa and 27% in Senegal.
“Today’s sensitization workshop is therefore a fulfillment of my promise to cascade it to the six geo-political zones in the country as a deliberate strategy of mobilizing, educating, sensitizing and challenging Nigerian health journalists to play vital roles in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and the waste of scarce resources in Nigeria.”
“It is imperative for me to warm that some of the harmful effects of bleaching include cancer slowly building up in the body, damage to vital organs of the body, wrinkles, skin irritation, allergies, skin burns, rashes, premature skin aging and prolonged healing of wounds,” she added.
In her own presentation, the Deputy Director (DER) of the agency, Anto Ebele provided a full overview of skin bleaching from NAFDAC’s perspective, harping on the social consequences of the menace.
The Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research of NAFDAC, Dr Leonard Omopariola, warned on the dangers of ingredients of bleaching creams such as methyl methacrylate, ethanolamine and hydroquinone among others.
He explained that some manufacturers deliberately leave out the correct names of the ingredients of their products to confuse consumers, hence the need to be more vigilant.
NAFDAC’s Director, Southwest Zone, Roseline Ajayi, urged Nigerians to be aware of the ingredients contained in what they use on their bodies, noting that such awareness makes the difference between health and infirmity.
On her own part, the Deputy Director (DR&R), Linda Halim, made her presentation on the regulatory controls of cosmetics in Nigeria with particular reference to the effects on human skin.
She stressed that the skin is the largest organ of the human body and should be protected by all means necessary for the overall well-being of the owner.
Dr Abubakar Jimoh, NAFDAC’s Director of Public Affairs, enjoined the media to not only become allies of the Agency but become lifetime advocates of the cause to eradicate skin bleaching in Nigeria.
Dominica Nwabufo
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