THE Anambra State House of Assembly has passed a bill prohibiting the hawking and false advertisement of any medical drugs in the state.

Leading the debate, Nnamdi Okafor, member representing Awka South 1 Constituency, said that the bill sought to ensure that all medical drugs sold or dispensed in the state were registered and approved by the regulatory authorities.

Okafor emphasised that the law would help to protect drug consumers from harm, caused by unregulated dispensing of drugs.

He noted that the bill also provided that only uses or indications of any drugs approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, would be advertised to the public.

The lawmaker, then, added that it would be an offence punishable by law to hawk or advertise any medical drugs not approved by NAFDAC as that would constitute false advertisement.

“Get an outlet or location if you must practice, where the manufacturer can be traced. In case of adverse effects, the manufacturer can easily be traced,’’ he said.

Speaker, Mrs Rita Maduagwu, the speaker, explained that the bill stipulates that the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the `Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, OCHA, Brigade shall be charged with the responsibility of monitoring compliance.

Maduagwu maintained that the ministry would facilitate the arrest and prosecution of defaulters of this law before a court of law and as such should work hard to safeguard lives and health of Ndi Anambra.

At the end of the debate, the speaker, called for voice vote and then, the bill was passed into law to be cited as “Hawking and False Advertisement of Medical Drugs’’ (Prohibition) law, 2018 and shall come into force on the 7th day of August 2018.

– Aug. 8, 2018 @ 18:19 GMT |