NAFDAC Inaugurates Consumer Health Club in Anambra School

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged youths and adolescents to resist the temptation of engaging in drug abuse, emphasizing the dangers it poses to their health and future.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Christiana Adeyeye, gave this advice on Friday during the inauguration of the NAFDAC Consumer Safety Club (NCSC) at Community Secondary School, Okpuno, Awka. Prof. Adeyeye, represented by Pharm. Louis Madubuattah, Deputy Director and Anambra State Coordinator of NAFDAC, stated that the NCSC is one of the agency’s strategic public enlightenment initiatives aimed at protecting young people from exposure to fake and substandard regulated products.

According to Madubuattah, NAFDAC is taking its campaign against drug abuse to the grassroots by revitalizing NCSC in secondary schools, where it will work closely with teachers to educate and empower students. The goal, he said, is to instill the right values early and prevent a lifetime of addiction and its devastating consequences.

“We urge you to be agents of change by promoting positive virtues that lead to behavioral transformation. Use your membership in the NCSC to support the fight against drug abuse, counterfeit medicines, and other substandard regulated products.”

“NAFDAC’s vision is to raise a generation that is not only empowered to uphold integrity but also demands the same from others.”

Madubuattah described drug abuse as the excessive use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol, prescription painkillers, and illegal drugs which can lead to physical, social, and emotional harm. He highlighted some of the severe consequences of teen drug abuse, such as addiction, poor judgment, high-risk sexual behavior, mental health disorders, and declining academic performance.

Citing a recent household drug use survey, he warned that prescription drug abuse is rapidly emerging as a major public health crisis, contributing to increased poly-drug use among addicts.

“It is alarming that 14.4 percent—or approximately 14.3 million Nigerians—are victims of drug abuse,” he stated.

As part of efforts to sustain the initiative, Mrs. Chioma Agina and Mrs. Immaculata Nwankwo were appointed as facilitators of the newly inaugurated club.

The NAFDAC team was warmly received by Mrs. Maureen Onwuemenam, Principal of Community Secondary School, Okpuno, who expressed gratitude to the agency for the initiative. She assured that the school would actively support the program to achieve its intended impact.

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