Pharmacists raise alarm over codeine abuse

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January 25, 2018 10:38 AM

The growing trend of codeine abuse within Nigeria has become of grave concern by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria.

On Tuesday, January 23, 2018, the registrar of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Elijah Mohammed raised alarm over the codeine abuse in Nigeria which has become a national problem.

Mohammed disclosed this while inaugurating a committee tagged Codeine Control Working and Other Related Matter Group in Abuja on behalf of the council.

He said safety concerns on the use and misuse of codeine-containing preparations were well documented and assuming a frightening dimension in some parts of the country. He also said the council was currently working with technical groups of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and other relevant stakeholders to address the problem.

"A large number of Nigerians cutting across different geographical and social strata are already addicted to some of these medicines," he said.

He said the Codeine Control and Related Matters Working Group (CCRWG) was set up because the current situation required the deployment of feasible strategies to bring the menace under control. The 16 member committee headed by Prof. Oluwatoyin Odeku has four to six weeks to turn in its preliminary report.

While inaugurating the committee, Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole said it was very important to break the supply chain of the drugs.

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