- * Says They're Dangerous, Could Lead To Damage Of Vital Body Organs, Sudden Death!
- Agency Acquires 40 Units Of $2.8m Worth Of TRU-SCAN, A Fake Drug Detecting Device
By JVNN Okafor (Editor, Brands & Products)
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has warned Nigerian products consumers against the use of sex-enhancing drugs and other performance aphrodisiacs, saying that they could cause stroke, organ damage, and untimely death.
Adeyeye's warning contained in her Christmas and New Year goodwill message to all Nigerians, came against the backdrop of the high rate of consumption of sex-enhancing substances by both male and female consumers in Nigeria, just to become sex Tarzans and impress their bedmates.
The NAFDAC boss lamented the high influx of these sex aphrodisiacs in the local markets, drug stores, and even street corners across the country, stating that a large proportion of those "manpower" performance substances have no NAFDAC registration.
In the words of the NAFDAC D-G, “They are smuggled into the country. If they were registered, the producers and peddlers alike would not be doing what they are doing in the supermarkets, social media platforms, and on the streets.”
Prof Adeyeye, in a statement at the weekend by the NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, in Lagos, Sayo Akintola, however, disclosed that the death rate of patrons of sex-enhancing drugs, particularly the male gender have been astronomical in recent times, stating that relatives of such deceased persons often blame their death on village witches and other satanic forces.
The NAFDAC boss also faulted claims often made by the manufacturers and marketers of these products that they have no adverse effects. She said most of the producers of the substances even circumvented the products approval processes of NAFDAC.
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Adeyeye, therefore, warned that NAFDAC would soon intensify a field crackdown on the substance producers and merchants for contravening the regulatory rules of the Agency regarding registration of such dangerous products.
“Just like the need to have food and water, intimacy is also a primary requirement in life. Most human beings have the need for intimacy for a healthy sexual life which determines their overall wellbeing. If there are physical or psychological problems to a person’s sexuality, it can hamper their self-confidence.
“Many people today have been caught in the web of such circumstances, leading them to seek a way out of the wood. In recent times, the use of aphrodisiacs has become the range. Many people are ignorant of the possible damage that misuse of aphrodisiacs or use of unregistered drugs could cause".
Prof Adeyeye added that there were manufacturing and quality guidelines, and mandated regulations that control the production, importation, exportation, advertisement, and the use of such products. She maintains that the indiscriminate intake of sex performance substances have grave consequences capable of compromising the essential body organs and ultimately the entire body system of an individual.
Some of the negative manifestations from reckless consumption of the aphrodisiacs, the NAFDAC Director-General said, include high blood pressure, stroke, sexual dysfunction, organ failure and sudden death, etc.
Adeyeye explained that “when you have a disproportionate flow of blood to a particular part of the body and lasting longer than normal, they tend to disrupt the normal flow of the circulatory system.”
Sex-enhancing drugs, she warned, could easily interact with other drugs in the body system. The liver is responsible for the breakdown of drugs while the by-product of all waste goes down through the kidneys.
“When these things are used, especially with some herbal medicines that don’t have dosage and professional prescription, it can lead to internal organ damage. It can hurt the liver and the kidneys, leading to an untimely death,” Adeyeye further warned.
According to the NAFDAC boss, the natural workings of the body system is such that “Everything should function the way God designed it. When they begin to disrupt those functions over time, it affects the imbalance and the ecosystem of how the body's physiology works, and that can lead to unintended consequences.
“For those who have certain health risks, like people that are hypertensive, or people that have heart disease, there is more of anxiety that the drug could stimulate into the system, and with anxiety, that can lead to changes in the physiology of the body and can also lead to stroke or sudden stoppage of the heart. These happen in cases when men suddenly slump during sexual intercourse, as reported in Rivers and Cross Rivers States, recently.
“There are a lot of side effects. Every drug is a potential poison. Every drug has one side effect or the other. These are chemical products with side effects. In some cases, there are associated Adverse Drug Reactions, which means it could lead to death or more serious organ damage, depending on usage"
Adeyeye however clarified that “it’s not all cases of sudden death that are caused by witches and wizards in the village; but in most cases, they are caused by what we eat or drink carelessly.”
She, therefore, enjoined all Nigerians during this Christmas and New Year festive season to consume healthy and proper food, drug, and drink products that would enhance their health and general well-being in other to avoid health problems after the festivals.
The NAFDAC DG stated that prohibited and counterfeit drugs and other food products worth over N3billion were recently seized by her Agency at the Lagos Trade Fair Complex. She said that about 20 trailer loads of such contraband and unwholesome products were confiscated by officials of the Enforcement and Investigation Unit of NAFDAC led by its Director, Barrister Kingsley Ejiofor.
According to Prof Adeyeye, some of the NAFDAC's seized drugs at the Lagos Trade Fair Complex were sex-enhancing drugs. She said “Worse still, they are counterfeited. When something is counterfeited, the manufacturers don’t care about quality. They add what they are not supposed to add or add more than what they are supposed to add. Invariably, the user is the loser".
Adeyeye also revealed that NAFDAC has ordered about 40 units of TRU-SCAN, a detecting device worth $70,000 each, specifically for field Enforcement operations and for mainly spot-checking of the medicines.
“The device will show you whether a drug is 5mg or 50mg. Before it would only show you that it’s X-drug, it will not show you the level. This device is both qualitative and quantitative.
“NAFDAC is the first Agency in the world to use the TRU SCAN which does quantitative spot-check on the chemical content in the medicines. It will show the chemical level of the drug.
“This is part of the multifaceted approach we are adopting in fighting the preponderance of banned and falsified drugs in the country. We will ensure we minimize falsification of drugs to the level that will give a lot of confidence to the consumers,” she assured.
The NAFDAC boss however blamed the influx and menace of fake and adulterated drugs on greedy products and drug manufacturers and importers whose sole desire is to make illicit wealth at the expense of gullible and undiscerning consumers of food, drug, and drink products. NNL.
