The House of Representatives yesterday asked the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to arrest and prosecute unlawful online advertisers of drugs, and enlighten the public against the dangers of purchasing unregistered and non prescribed drugs online.
It also called on the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, to liaise with online advertising companies, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc., to effectively monitor, control, and enforce advertising standards against online drugs advertisers and vendors; The Green Chamber of the National Assembly equally urged the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria to sanction and prosecute individuals engaging in the sales and promotion of medicines online without the requisite authorization in line with the law establishing the Council.
Similarly, it asked the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, to take necessary action towards protecting consumers of online drugs.
The resolutions followed the consideration of a motion, titled “Need to Regulate Online Advertising and Sales of Drugs”, presented by Onofiok Akpan Luke at plenary.
Presenting the motion, Luke expressed concern that online vendors had capitalized on free access to the internet and social media platforms to advertise and sell unregistered and sometimes fake drugs to unsuspecting members of the public, thereby endangering their health and well being.
He said: “Given the false, exaggerated media and online advertisement of drugs, members of the public are enticed into buying the drugs ranging from dietary supplements, cholesterol-lowering medicine, analgesics, including tramadol and aspirin to Viagra and other sex enhancement drugs, some of which are unregistered and purchased without a doctor’s prescription or the advice of a pharmacist.
“The law prohibits the advertisement of drugs or related products without registration and without the advertisement having the pre-clearance and approval of a relevant government agency.
“The law requires that the advertisement of any drug or related product be accurate, complete, clear, and designed to promote credibility and trust by the general public and health practitioners and that drug products, particularly drugs that may lead to death or severe injury, must have a special safety warning information displayed within a box in the advertisement.
“Some of the drugs are sold without an indication or warning of the side effects, and members of the public who purchased them have complained of developing symptoms of vomiting, stooling, body weakness, severe body pains, swelling, shortness of breath, fainting, erectile dysfunction among other things, necessitating them to seek medical attention in hospitals.
“Most drugs and related products advertised online do not meet the requirements and standards set by the law and the non-compliance thereof exposes the public to grave health risk and danger.
“Drug products should not state or imply in absolute terms or by quotations taken out of context that any drug product is safe or has guaranteed efficacy or special status, and that any advertisement that portrays a drug product as fast, immediate, instant, or rapid in action on the description must substantiate using studies based on the rate of absorption of the drug product.”
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committees on Healthcare Services and Information Technology to ensure compliance with the resolutions.