… Kicks against inclusion in children products
By Hassan John
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has kicked-off sensitization campaign on the dangers of using bleaching creams, in the South West Nigeria.
The sensitization campaign brought together selected journalists from the South Western states including Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, and Ogun
This is even as the agency has kicked against the use of bleaching creams in products use for children.
While declaring the sensitization campaign open, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the “sensitization workshop is a training the Trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants will assume role of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against use of bleaching creams.”
She noted the use of bleaching creams has grave consequences to the health of the users.
“Even though, I have assigned some of my competent officers to carry out this training exercise, it is imperative for me to warn that some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin ageing and prolonged healing of wounds.
“A World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) study revealed that use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77 percent of Nigerian women which was highest in Africa compared to 59 percent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 percent of women in Senegal.
“This scary statistic has shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multi-faced regulatory approach.
“Part of the multi-pronged approach are consultative/sensitization meetings such as this and heightened raids on distribution outlets of bleaching creams.” Prof. Adeyeye said.
The NAFDAC Director General recalled that “last year, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, acting on resolutions of the Senate wrote to NAFDAC stressing the need to take stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of rampant and pervasive cases of Nigerians using bleaching creams.
“We immediately took some decisive steps such as sensitization of the public through different media outlets, enforcement through intelligence and raids in trade fair complexes that have resulted in large seizures and destruction of violative products.
“One of such sensitization actions was the flag-off of Media Sensitization Workshops organized for Journalists in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.
“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 frontline role in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needless waste of scarce resources in Nigeria.”
In her presentation, the Deputy-Director, Cosmetics & Medical Devices Drug Evaluation and Research,
NAFDAC, Pharm. Ebele Perpetua Anto, raised the concern that the use of the bleaching cream in children products is on the rise.
While listing the dangers and negative consequences of using bleaching creams, Pharm. Anto said, they include premature skin ageing, damage to organs eg kidney, nervous system, risk to cancer, increased risk to skin infections, damage to skin, uneven coloration, skin burns, dry patches, wrinkles, unwanted and untreatable skin discoloration(ochronosis) and dependence on the products.
Other dangers of using bleaching creams, she said, include elevated mercury levels in the hair, blood, and urine can damage the kidneys, nervous system, and can also affect the unborn child, prolonged use of some bleaching agents can contribute to premature aging of skin, long-term use may increase the risk of skin cancer from sun exposure and steroids may increase risk for skin infections, skin thinning, acne and poor wound healing.
Some others include hydroquinone may cause unwanted and untreatable skin discoloration (ochronosis) and that various agents, including the natural ONES, can cause skin irritation/allergic reaction.
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