The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control,
NAFDAC says the agency is taking measures to curb the menace of drug
abuse in the country.
Dr Abubakar Jimoh, the Director, Public Affairs of the agency, told newsmen in Abuja that the Agency is tackling the menace of drug abuse holistically from the regulatory perspective, enforcement and public sensitisation awareness campaign.
He explained that Tramadol has scientific use just like codeine but the abuse and diversion for criminal purposes, and also bringing unapproved dosage into the country is what is criminal about it.
Dr. Jimoh stressed that the criminal aspect of tramadol is what the
NDLEA is handling while NAFDAC deals with the scientific and medicinal
usage of tramadol in hospitals.
He added that the general notion by some section of the country that Kano is the hub of drug abuse was a total misconception that is pegged on imagination and physical figment.
According to Jimoh, a nationwide survey conducted and released in January 2019 by the United Nations Office on Drug Control, UNODC on the prevalence of drug abuse revealed that the entire country is vulnerable to drug abuse with a national average of fourteen point
four percent.
