NAFDAC DG Warns Against Use Of Bleaching Cream
The Acting Director General (DG), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Monica Eimunjeze
LAGOS DECEMBER 17TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The Acting Director General (DG), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Monica Eimunjeze, has cautioned Nigerians against the use of bleaching cosmetic products, with the aim to have lightening skin, as this act is hazardous to health.
She explained that use of skin bleaching products could cause skin redness, ulcers, cancer, blisters, swellings, and itching, among others.
She, therefore, urged the people to avoid these products for their own benefit.
Eimunjeze made this call in Lagos, at the media sensitisation workshop on dangers of bleaching creams, and regulatory control programmes organised by NAFDAC for the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists.
In a related development, she called on Nigerians to avoid use of some smuggled tomato pastes with unacceptable ingredients in the market, because they are harmful to health.
She said: “We discovered seven warehouses in Lagos, where tomato paste products, without NAFDAC numbe,r are packed. We have made an arrest and investigation is ongoing”.
She said the reason NAFDAC organised the event was to engage media to educate members of the public on dangers of products that have not been subjected to regulatory review. NAFDAC cannot guarantee the contents and safety of such products. Therefore, we want Nigerians to know that those products would harm them and they can affect their long-term health.
Eimunjeze noted that Federal Government had banned the importation of tomato pastes into the country, therefore Nigerians should be careful as the agency is determined to safeguard the health of the nation.
“We have regulatory control over these products. We register products, as part of regulatory requirements to reevaluate every product in the country”.
Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research NAFDAC, Dr. Leonard Omokpariola, said there were issues in chemicals in cosmetic products as many products have dangerous effects, impacts in the body.
He said: “These harmful products make skin lighter and they have lots of toxic effects because they continue to accumulate in the body until the skin is damaged “.
The President Association of Nigeria Health Journalists, Mr. Hassan Zaggi commended NAFDAC for partnering with the media.
He promised that the media would disseminate the right information and educate Nigerians on dangers of these products.
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