Investigation of Consumers&rsquo; Knowledge about NAFDAC Media Campaign on Consuming Counterfeit Drugs and Substandard Food in South East Nigeria

Ono Gloria Nneka; Okeke Adaobi Olivia

Investigation of Consumers’ Knowledge about NAFDAC Media Campaign on Consuming Counterfeit Drugs and Substandard Food in South East Nigeria

Ono Gloria Nneka AND Okeke Adaobi Olivia

Abstract

Drugs are meant to treat, prevent, relieve symptoms of diseases or cure diseases when manufactured using correct active ingredients and in their right proportion and when used as prescribed by doctors or health experts. They cause injury to the physical and mental health of users when counterfeited or abused. Counterfeit drugs and substandard food products still proliferate Nigerian markets in spite of the incessant enlightenment media campaign by Nigerian Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on the inherent dangers of consuming the products. The study was aimed at investigating consumers’ knowledge about the inherent dangers of consuming counterfeit and substandard products vis-à-vis their continuous existence in Nigerian markets and the consequent high death rate. The study design was survey and interview schedule served as the measuring instrument. For the data analysis, Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. The findings showed among others that consumers were quite knowledgeable about the inherent dangers of consuming fake and substandard products. The researchers therefore recommend that NAFDAC should come up with stiffer punishments for drug and food offenders to really force these products out of the markets and also the prices of drugs and food products should be brought down for poor consumers to comfortably afford them because the two products are basic needs of man

Keywords

Media campaign; counterfeit; inherent dangers; medication drugs; food products

References

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Investigation of Consumers&rsquo; Knowledge about NAFDAC Media Campaign on Consuming Counterfeit Drugs and Substandard Food in South East Nigeria

Abstract

Keywords

References

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