The House of Representatives Tuesday urged the National Drugs Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria to liaise with online advertising companies and other regulatory agencies to regulate the advertisement and sales of drugs online.
Daily Trust had last month reported that NAFDAC and other regulatory bodies were helpless as unregistered drugs took over internet markets.
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It asked NAFDAC to arrest and prosecute unlawful online advertisers of drugs and enlighten the public against the dangers of purchasing unregistered and non-prescribed drugs online.
It urged the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria to sanction and prosecute individuals engaging in the sales and promotion of medicines online without the requisite authorization in line with the law establishing the council.
The House also asked the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to take necessary action towards protecting consumers of online drugs.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Onofiok Akpan Luke (PDP, Akwa Ibom) who said vendors had capitalized on free access to the internet and social media platforms to advertise and sell unregistered and fake drugs to unsuspecting citizens, thereby endangering their health and wellbeing.
He said the drugs being advertised and sold online ranged from dietary supplements, cholesterol-lowering medicine, analgesics, including tramadol and aspirin to viagra and other sex enhancement drugs.
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