By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has trained about 60 working journalists and other stakeholders/businessmen from the cosmetic industry in Borno and Yobe states on the dangers of bleaching creams.
The one-day workshop/training took place on Wednesday at the NAFDAC North East zonal office in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Recall that similar trainings were conducted in other geo-political zones across the country since last year, due the fact that research have shown that about 77 per cent of women in Nigeria engaged in bleaching, which is the highest statistics in the entire world.
Addressing participants at thevtraining, the Director General, DG, NAFDAC, Professor Moji Adeyeye, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr. Leonard Omopariola, said, “It is my pleasure to be here again in this historic city of Maiduguri for the flag-off of the North-East Zonal Media Sensitization Workshop on the Dangers of Bleaching Creams.
“This 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 NAFDAC’s concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needless waste of scarce resources in Nigeria.
“It is pertinent to mention that during my recent press conference in Abuja, announcing my second tenure in office, I promised to continue the transformative agenda of my first tenure, but intensify and widen the scope of our publicity and public awareness campaigns.
“I wish to assure you that NAFDAC will henceforth constantly engage the mass media as we strive to bring down to the grassroot level positive impacts of our regulatory activities.
“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 prolong healing of wounds.
“A World Health Organization, WHO, 2018 study revealed that the use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77 percent of Nigerian women, which was highest in Africa, compared to 59 per cent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 per cent 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.
“It is therefore a great pleasure for me to declare open this Media Sensitization Workshop, while urging you to assist NAFDAC in publicizing and disseminating knowledge acquired to the general public.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the NAFDAC North-East Zonal Director, Dr. Bukar Usman, appreciated the role of the media in the fight against illegal consumption of cosmetics and other dangerous substances, which are prevalent among women and youths in the country.
He averred these cause to human organs, skins, uneven coloration, burns, dry patches and wrinkles mostly among female gender, who patronizes such products.
He urged the participants to use the opportunity to disseminate timely information on the dangers of using harmful cosmetics that contains ingredients such as Melanin, Hydroquinone, Tropical Retinoids, Mercury, Ethonol among other banned chemicals.
In a separate vote of thanks, the Chairmen of the Borno and Yobe states councils of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Comrades Dauda Iliya and Mohammed Rajab, respectively commended NAFDAC for organizing such workshop aimed at sensitizing the public on the dangers of bleaching creams in the country, even as they pledged that working journalists in the region would continue to partner with the agency in its fight against the use and control of harmful substances.
Highlights of the workshop were paper presentations with topics: ‘An Overview of Skin Bleaching: The NAFDAC Perspectives,’ by Deputy Director of the agency, Mrs. Anto Ebele; ‘The Role of Mass Media in Promoting Public Health in Nigeria,’ by Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh; ‘Safe Handling of Chemicals and Ingredients in the Cosmetics Industry,’ by Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr. Omopariola.
Others presentations include: ‘The Cosmovigillance Best Practices,’ by Director North-East Zone, Dr. Usman, and ‘NAFDAC’s Regulatory Control of Cosmetics in Nigeria,’ by Deputy Director, DRandR, Pharmacist Linda Halim.
