Bleaching In Nigeria Must Be Addressed – NAFDAC

The National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control has come out to declare a state of emergency on bleaching after establishing that Nigeria has been ranked first in cases of bleaching.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye recently raised the alarm on the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria, and citizens have been reacting.

According to her, the problem has become a national emergency that calls for serious attention because 7 per cent of those engaged in bleaching in Nigeria are women.

She added that bleaching comes with its fatal health hazards, so it must be avoided.

Her words, “The World Health Organisation study in 2018 revealed that the use of skin bleaching cream is prevalent amongst 77 per cent of Nigerian women, which is the highest in Africa compared to 59 per cent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 per cent in Senegal.”

“These scary statistics have shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multi-faceted regulatory approach.”

“This sensitization workshop is a training of trainers program with the great expectation that participants will assume roles of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against the use of bleaching creams.”

“I wish to assure you that NAFDAC will henceforth constantly engage the mass media as we strive to bring down to the grass levels the positive impact of our regulatory activities.”

“Even though I have assigned some of my competent officers to carry out this training, it has become imperative for me to warn that some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs in the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature ageing and prolonged healing of wounds.”