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HEALTH
INTERACTIVE WITH DR. AMINU MAGASHI Not
too long ago, one night I was watching
the 9:00 o’clock Nigerian Television Authority ( NTA ) network news, a
shocking news items captured my attention, it has to do with National
Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control ( NAFDAC ) warning
the public about the unsafely of some brands of Water For Injection being
distributed and use in our hospitals. Before I got my jotter and pen to
scribe something, the news
caster had already changed to another story. I was deeply touched and
moved to find out the details of that bewildered story and the attitude
of health professionals towards the plight of the populace. The
following day, my self and a very dependable friend whom I used to share
lots of my work regarding public health matters surfed the internet to
download the story in BBC web site. The story captioned ‘Nigerian alert over unsafe jabs by
The
advertised public announcement by NAFDAC entitled ‘Water
For Injection that appeared in the Thursday edition of Daily
Trust (July, 8th, 04) said it all. The agency has informed the general
public of the circulation of fake, unregistered and dangerous water for
injection. As I mentioned earlier, out of 149 brands tested only two
were found to be microbial and pyrogen free, meaning that except the
two, all the others are unsafe and can cause fever and infection. As of
that time of the advertisement, only two brands are registered by NAFDAC
and only the two are safe for use, they are Sam
Pharmaceuticals Water for Injection – Manufactured by Vifor
Pharmaceuticals and distributed by Sam Pharmaceuticals Limited and Salimpex Water for
Injection- Manufactured By Pharmaceutical Solutions Industries. Until
another advertised information by NAFGDAC on the issue regarding other
unsafe water for injection, I urge the public and health workers to make
use of the only two tested and certified water for injection. It is very
hazardous to mix any powdered drug with contaminated water or administer
same to any patient, that single action can exacerbate the condition
being treated and can cause death. The public should know that, in terms
of severity and implications, it is better to take expired drug than to
use contaminated water for injection. As we are aware that most of the
available antibiotics and cephalosporins are being provided in powdered
form, as such they need to be mixed with water to form suspension or
solution for injection , be
it intramuscularly or intravenously introduced into the blood system.
The scenario is that , if
the water is already contaminated with microbial mostly bacteria, the
organisms will grow and multiply within
the water and as the powdered drug is being mix and injected in to the
blood system, all those bacteria will have direct access to the system
and produce bacteremia
multiply and lead to septicemia
( septic agents and toxins ). The end result will be wide spread
inflammation in the various organs and systems in the body as well as
fever, shock and death. If the patient survive, such phenomenon will
lead to another illness entirely different and the organisms will start
developing some resistant to the common drugs used, hence, what we are
experiencing in the country, where by a lot of drugs in the market
cannot be useful in the treatment of many diseases and no wonder why we
have a lot of hospital acquired infections in the country. The
war against unsafe water for Injection certainly is not only for NAFDAC,
but all of us in the health and other sectors and the entire public, we
must be vigilant while buying brands in pharmacy shops and in the
markets, we must inculcate the habit of asking the brand and
seeing the lavel to make sure, it is certified and registered. On
another angle, I urge the agency to persevere more on this matter, as it
is not an easy task, on the part of the states and LGAs, nothing stop
them from establishing a smaller unit to complement the effort of NAFDAC,
I envisage the need for state and local agencies on food and drug
administration and control (SAFDAC) and (LAFDAC) respectively. By that action, such
regulatory agencies will speed up the activities of NAFDAC .While the
agency concentrate on bigger drugs problem, those in the
states and the LGAs will
concentrate on equally monitoring the
use of drugs and related matters
and establish microbiological and chemical pathology laboratories
to be from time to time checking the safety of some items, like the popular
pure water, water for injection and some food items more
especially during outbreaks of diarrheall diseases that can be traced to
food poisoning and /or
contamination of water from the source. The activities are but a simple
task and very rewarding towards safe guarding the life of the citizenry
but how ever it needs dedication, commitment and sincerity of purpose on
the part of policy makers. In conclusion, I call on the personnel of
pharmaceutical companies who happen to be health workers to know that in
pursuance of their desire to make more profit from such businesses, they
should be bear in mind that ethics of duty and the life and health of
their customers must be always the yard stick in business. Dr Magashi Is The
Executive Director Of Community Health and Research Initiative,
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