…says Nigeria has banned use of Antibiotics in livestock, food production
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
As Nigeria joins in marking the 2021 World Antimicrobial Resistance Week, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has alerted Nigerians that the increasing rate of irrational use of antibiotics with the accelerated process of Antimicrobial Resistance AMR, could lead to avoidable deaths.
Director General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye made this known on Friday at the virtual 2021 World Antimicrobial Resistance Week (WAAW) anniversary with the theme, Spread Awareness Stop Resistance.
In a statement signed by NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant Sayo Akintola on Sunday in Lagos, said that Adeyeye warned Nigerians that if the abuse of antibiotics continues, antimicrobial resistance could lead to death.
She added that the menace and war against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has assumed a global attention which requires the human battle.
‘’Creating awareness amidst us all is a major step in AMR stewardship by relevant stakeholders to effectively stop resistance. ”
Adeyeye said, ‘’ the step is unique and is expected, not only to redirect our way of handling and use of antimicrobial agents, but also to yield a significant reduction in the incidence of AMR.”
The NAFDAC DG noted that the meeting is using the stakeholders’ meeting was targeting professionals in the Healthcare sector, Veterinarians, Animal Husbandry professionals in livestock production, Plant Pathologists and individuals that use antimicrobial agents.
She expressed dismay that the development and proliferation of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which is the ability of pathogenic microorganism to resist the effect of antimicrobial agents when used to treat internal or external infections in both human and animal population has compromised the ability of antimicrobials to effectively treat infectious diseases as expected.
‘’The emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens continues to weaken the health systems’’, she lamented.
She advised that the fight against AMR requires collective efforts that are interlinked and interphase along the One-Health Concept, adding that NAFDAC has put in place some important regulatory measures to curb the emergence and spread of AMR.
’This is very necessary and extremely important to ensure food safety and food security, a safe environment, and a healthy citizen in our dear country emphasing that it is a collective call in the healthcare, livestock production and environmental management subsectors of the economy to be directly or indirectly involved in curbing AMR.
Prof Adeyeye, reiterated NAFDAC’s commitment to ensuring that only safe and wholesome food, drugs, and other regulated products are available to Nigerians.
She said ‘’the Agency is now more dedicated to the delivery of quality services to our stakeholders thus the Agency’s slogan “customer focused…. Agency minded” which is now well entrenched in our operations’’.
According to her NAFDAC is collaborating with stakeholders, MDAs both at State and Federal levels, toward a more effective regulation and active involvement in creating awareness about AMR and in bringing to an end the emergence and spread of AMR in the country.
The Agency’s stake in the protection of public health, as entrenched in NAFDAC Act Cap N1 LFN 2004, is to ensure that regulated products that are available for use are wholesome, safe and of the right quality, she noted.
Meanwhile Professor Adeyeye had disclosed that the Agency has banned the use of Antibiotics as growth promoter in livestock and fish production and gentian violet
mold inhibitor in animal feed.
She said that the Agency also introduced the Mobile Authentication Service (MAS), a mechanism put in place for detecting counterfeit antibiotics by consumers .
