Anastasia Okechukwu Reporting
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has trained about 800 journalists from different states in the six geopolitical zones about the risks of bleaching cream to enable them adequately enlighten the public.
This was disclosed on Wednesday in Maiduguri by NAFDAC Director of Public Affairs, Mr Abubakar Jimoh, at the launch of the North-East Zonal Media Sensitisation Workshop on Dangers of Bleaching Creams.
Jimoh said that bleaching has become a hard-headed monster and something needs to be done to enlighten the public about its effects through the media.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who was represented by NAFDAC’s Director of Chemical Evaluation and Researc, Dr Leonard Omokpariola, In her statement presented at the workshop said, “This sensitisation workshop is to train the trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants will assume the role of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against bleaching creams.
She also said that even though the agency has assigned some of the competent officers to carry out the training, it is imperative for her to warn that some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin ageing and prolonged the healing of wounds.
Citing the WHO, Adeyeye added that World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) study revealed that the use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77 per cent of Nigerian women, the highest in Africa compared to 59 per cent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 per cent in Senegal.
“The scary statistic has shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multi-faced regulatory approach.”
She listed raids on bleaching cream distributors and consultative/sensitization sessions as two of the strategies to stop the threat.
Speaking on behalf of the participating journalists, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Borno, Mr. Dauda Iliya, and his counterpart in Yobe, Mr. Rajab Mohammed, praised NAFDAC for the training opportunity.
They reaffirmed the dedication of North East journalists to the agency through consistent journalistic coverage of bleaching threats.