The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has expressed concerns over what it described as the resurgence of fake and substandard drugs in the country, disclosing that over 50 per cent of medicines in circulation may be counterfeit, significantly higher than the official estimates of 13 to 15 per cent.

ACPN National Chairman, Pharm. Ezeh Igwekamma, disclosed this in a statement issued ahead of the association’s 44th Annual International Conference.

Pharm. Igwekamma described the growing prevalence of fake drugs as a national emergency, warning that the country was sliding back to the dangerous era of the late 1990s when fake medicines, largely distributed through open drug markets and unregulated vendors, were responsible for therapeutic failures and fatalities.

“Our usually reliable and dependable research-based efforts indicate that we are back to the days of over 50 percent of drugs in circulation being fake and substandard as against official figures hovering between 13 and 15 percent,” he stated.

He blamed the disturbing trend on weakened regulatory enforcement, noting that both the Federal and State Task Forces on counterfeit medicines have become largely inactive.

He also highlighted the economic scale of the fake drug and drink industry, calling it a “tens-of-billion-naira business championed by modern-day merchants of death.”

In a bid to reverse the trend, the ACPN has called on the National Assembly to urgently amend the existing Fake Drug and Unwholesome Processed Food Act to empower regulators with stronger enforcement tools.

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Pharm. Igwekamma also commended the recent collaboration between NAFDAC and the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), which led to the sealing of the Sabon-Gari open drug market and the operationalisation of Nigeria’s first Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in Kano.

Themed “Technology Integration, Personalised Care: The Future of Community Pharmacy Practice”, the upcoming conference will gather over 3,000 delegates from within and outside Nigeria to address pressing issues in pharmaceutical care.

The conference will feature a ‘Walk Against Fake and Counterfeit Medicines’, alongside keynote addresses, exhibitions, and policy roundtables aimed at promoting technology-driven, personalised pharmaceutical care as a long-term solution to Nigeria’s medicine quality crisis.

The ACPN Chairman said: “Our goal is clear: to ensure that every Nigerian has access to safe, effective, and personalized medicines from licensed community pharmacies. We must end this era of impunity in fake drug circulation before more lives are lost.”

Pharm. Igwekamma called on all stakeholders, from pharmacists and technologists to lawmakers and consumers, to support efforts that will transform Nigeria’s pharmaceutical landscape through innovation and stricter regulation.