Some unscrupulous pharmacists and salesmen take advantage of people who cannot read and sell them expired or fake drugs, which could easily compromise their health.

Pharmacists have warned the public to check the expiry and best-before dates of any medicines they buy, saying that unscrupulous dealers take advantage of people who cannot read – particularly the elderly – and give them drugs that are past their sell-by date or are fake.
They say that before anyone buys any medicinal drugs, they should check the product carefully to ensure it is still fit to consume.

The pharmacists, based in Borno State’s capital, Maiduguri, say there is a valid reason medicinal manufacturers include these dates on drug packaging. Drugs that are sold after their expiry or best-before dates will not be as effective and could, in fact, worsen the health condition of consumers.

“I cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of adhering to the dates on the packaging of medicinal drugs,” pharmacist Abatcha Alhaji told RNI, adding that he was aware that there were several expired, fake or substandard drugs in circulation.

“Taking an expired drug has consequences. It can be less effective and even risky because of the change over time of the chemical composition of the drug. It could be harmful to the patient and worsen the consumer’s health condition. The strength of the drug could be compromised and it won’t work as effectively as it should. Research has shown even if the effectiveness of a drug decreases over time, much of the original potency remains even a decade after the expiration date. But that certainly does not mean it’s still safe to take.

“Because of poor storage systems, some drugs will expire even before the due date. I advise consumers to buy only from renowned, respected and registered pharmacists, especially those patients who cannot read.

“I have dealt with some patients who have taken what they thought were the necessary drugs for a long time without seeing any positive changes. It always turns out the drugs have already expired or are fake. We have been seeing many of such cases frequently.”

Kenneth Azikiwe, the director of the northeast region’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, said: “The mandate of the agency is to ensure that we regulate the manufacture, distribution, sales, export and import of drugs. One of the instruments we use to conduct this mandate, particularly in relation to expired products, is that we undertake what we call post-market surveillance activities. This involves going to the places where these products are sold. We examine the conditions under which they are kept and we check the qualifications of those managing the drugs.

“We have told – and keep telling –consumers to make sure that they don’t fall prey to those selling counterfeit, unregistered and expired drugs.
“We try to instil in people the need to adopt the 4Ps method: The place, package, price and product before buying any medicinal drugs. This 4Ps system helps consumers to buy the correct drug and to see if there’s something wrong with it.

“We are seriously concerned about the number of expired drugs that are in circulation. We ask people to inform us if someone sells them an expired drug because that will enable us to address the problem.

“But unfortunately, we don’t get the necessary feedback from people because most consumers who buy these drugs can hardly read and do not understand the importance of buying drugs that are still fit for purpose. Sometimes even those who can read and do understand don’t pay enough attention to what they are buying.

“The first P is the place: Consumers should buy drugs from a reputable registered pharmacy and not from hawkers on the street or unscrupulous salesmen. The next P stands for packaging: Consumers should always check the packaging. If it has been opened already or there is something that looks wrong, they should not buy it. The third P stands for price: If the consumer is not happy about the price he or she should check with the pharmacist. The last P stands for product: Consumers must ensure that it is the right medicine that was prescribed for them and they should check the expiry and best-before dates. If the medicine has expired, they should not buy it.”

Many Maiduguri residents told RNI that they seldom checked the expiry date of the medicines they bought. Some said they could not read so they would have to rely on the pharmacist to inform them if the drugs had expired. Others were ignorant and had not been told to always check for expiry and best-before dates. They were also unaware of the implications of taking expired or counterfeit drugs.

Baba Ali said: “I do not check to see if a drug has expired because I don’t know how to read. I have bought drugs that have expired at times but, luckily for me, my children usually check the drugs and tell me if they have expired.
“There are many people like me who can’t read. They don’t have children who can educate and guide them, so they take the medicine and wonder why it’s not working or why they are feeling worse.”

“It always skips my mind to check if the drugs have expired,” said Fati Gajimi. “Sometimes, if I remember, I ask people around me to check the expiry date.
“In the past, once I had already bought the drugs, I have asked people to check the medicine. Several times the drugs had expired and some of them were even fake drugs. When some pharmacists realise that you don’t know how to read, they can easily sell expired or even substandard drugs and people like me are not aware of it.”

James Bwala said: “Whenever I buy drugs, I always check the expiry date. Sometimes if there are elderly people in the pharmacy who cannot read, I help them to check that it’s the right medicine, whether it is good or bad for them to take it and the expiry date.”

FALMATA MOHAMMED ALI