- Governor Aminu Tambuwal said there should be a total ban on codeine syrups
- Governor Tambuwa declared that the medicine makes youths and married women to become drug addicts in the country
- He noted that the federal government should also identify illicit medicine that were regularly being abused with a view to banning them
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state on Tuesday, December 19, called on the federal government to totally ban Codeine syrups in the country.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tambuwal made the call while speaking at a Senate Rountable on medicine abuse held in Kano.
The two-day programme was organised by the Senate as part of the measures to address the medicine use crisis in the country with a view to finding a lasting solution to it.
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The governor, who was represented by the Sokoto state commissioner for health Balarabe Kakale, said banning the syrup was necessary to check its indiscriminate use and rampant abuse by youth.
He said: “This is a straightforward message of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and Governor Tambuwal that there should be a total ban on syrups containing codeine.’’
He said the call was necessary because the syrups that contained codeine were not life-saving medicine but drivers of medicine abuse in the country.
According to him, “Codeine syrups only push youths and married women to become medicine addicts in the country because it is not a life-saving medicine and the country can do without having it.’’
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Also, a renowned pharmacist with the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Ahmed Gana, urged the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the three most affected states by medicine abuse.
He said it would enable the government to establish rehabilitation centres to cater for medicine abuse victims with a view to making them useful members of the society.
He said the federal government should also identify illicit medicine that were regularly being abused with a view to banning them.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that President Buhari instructed law enforcement agencies to deal decisively with those who import distribute and sell illicit medicine.
The president on Thursday, December 7, made this known in Kano state during the course of his two-day visit to the state.
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Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Wednesday, 20 December 2017