Pharm. Ogeneochuko Omaruaye, national chairman, PWADAN addressing the press.
…..As Nigeria Marks 2025 Fight the Fakes Week
The Pharmaceutical Wholesalers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (PWDAN) has renewed its call on the Federal Government to fully implement the National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG) to curb the rising tide of falsified and substandard medicines in the country.
The association made the appeal in Lagos as Nigeria joined the global community to mark the 2025 Fight the Fakes Week, an international campaign against fake and substandard medical products.
At a press briefing held at New Height Pharmaceuticals Limited, the Chairman of PWDAN and Managing Director of the firm, Pharm. Ogeneochuko Omaruaye, described the spread of fake medicines as a national health emergency.
He warned that porous and poorly regulated drug distribution channels continue to fuel treatment failures, antimicrobial resistance and avoidable deaths, insisting that without a structured national supply chain, the crisis would deepen.
Omaruaye said PWDAN, established in 2018, was created to restore professionalism and integrity to pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution in Nigeria, noting that the body has introduced technology-driven checks to ensure members source medicines only from regulated outlets.
He, however, stressed that technology at association level could not replace a nationally coordinated system, adding that only full implementation of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control’s (NAFDAC) track-and-trace initiative would provide an effective end-to-end solution.
He commended NAFDAC for the programme and urged industry operators to key into it.
On the rising cost of medicines, Omaruaye said wholesalers do not fix drug prices, explaining that production and importation costs determined by manufacturers and importers largely drive pricing.
He added that wholesalers operate on margins of between 5 and 7.5 per cent to cover logistics and storage, expressing hope that prices would stabilise with increased local production.
The PWDAN Secretary, Pharm. Olaide Soetan, said the association’s members currently account for only 10 to 20 per cent of medicines in circulation, while unlicensed and untrained individuals control about 80 per cent of the market. She warned that this imbalance remains a major entry point for fake and substandard products.
National Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Pharm. Gafar Madehin, described the NDDG as Nigeria’s most sustainable solution to the fake drug menace, urging renewed political will to enforce the guidelines fully after years of slow implementation.
Madehin clarified that generic medicines were not inferior, provided they met regulatory standards, noting that both branded and generic drugs become dangerous when sourced from unregulated channels. He advised Nigerians to buy medicines only from registered pharmacies.
Pharm. Rosemary Nikoro called for greater public vigilance, while Pharm. Olufunke Awopegba of Funket Nigeria Limited advocated continuous community-level sensitisation to complement enforcement efforts.
Fight the Fakes Week is a global advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of falsified and substandard medicines, which health experts say claims hundreds of thousands of preventable lives annually, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
PWDAN reaffirmed its commitment to working with NAFDAC, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Health to secure Nigeria’s drug supply chain and guarantee access to safe and quality-assured medicines for Nigerians.