The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called on the residents of Edo to embrace government’s vaccination programmes against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Prof. Christiana Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, represented by Dr Umar Musa, Director, Narcotics and Controlled Substances, NAFDAC made the call during a sensitisation/campaign programme in Benin on Thursday.
She said, “The key objective of this sensitisation programme is to intensify and expand the scope of our informal and formal behaviour change communication strategies in order to reach the vulnerable communities especially at the grassroots.
“Today’s event is another major milestone in our bid to protect Nigerians against the harmful effects of unwholesome food, falsified medical products, harmful cosmetics, poor water and other substandard regulated products.
“It is common knowledge that Nigeria has a preponderant share of the global problem of falsified medical products and unwholesome food.
“The target audiences are market women and men, road transport workers and employers, community youth organisations and students.
“We have engaged the services of MMCC as project consultant to drive the sensitisation campaigns and it is gratifying to note that the campaign materials are ready to be deployed on the field.”
Adeyeye also noted that the advent of the pandemic had aggravated the challenges posed by substandard and falsified Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
She said the campaign would contribute significantly to Federal Government’s concerted efforts to inform, sensitise, educate and alert the public about inherent dangers of indiscriminate taking of regulated products.
“It is our expectation that at the end of the campaigns, the participants and target audiences would become dependable partners and allies of NAFDAC.
“We also hope that participants would be in the forefront of sustaining the public awareness campaigns by disseminating the information and messages to the grassroots,” she said.
She said the COVID-19 vaccines had been tested and confirmed safe for human vaccination.
Mrs Esther Itua, Coordinator of NAFDAC in the sate thanked stakeholders for their participation and encouraged them to report fake products.
She said the aim of the programme was to help people understand the importance of taking care of their health.(NAN)
