Excessive fasting causes kidney, liver damage- NAFDAC DG warns

…destroys Tramadol worth N95b

Blessing Bature, Abuja 

Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, has warned that excessive fasting could cause kidney and liver damage.

She stated this at a media Parley to announced the destruction of five 40 feet containers of unregistered pharmaceuticals including Tramadol worth of 95 billion naira. The destruction was carried out in Benin Republic four years after they were intercepted.

Prof. Adeyeye, Urged Nigerians to ensure they conduct their religious obligation of fasting with common sense so that they do not endanger their liver, kidney and other vital body organs.

“We are a religious country, Muslims and Christians. We fast a lot and is part of the kidney problem. 

According to her, "for the body to have monostatic balance, the water level in the body must be enough to make your organs to function. Some people will fast for over 20 days without drinking much water, the kidney is being punished.

"If you put chemical in it, it dripples in an exponential manner to damage the kidney because the kidney does not have water to dilute. That is what all of us should know. I fast, but I fast with common sense".

“We have to fast with common sense, if not we will pay it with our kidney,” she said.  

Responding to a question on the effort of NAFDAC to totally eradicate fake and substandard products in the country, Prof. Adeyeye said: “All over the world, we have substandard medicines, all we are doing is to bring it to minimal level so that if 10 people take medicines, 9.9 should be good medicine.”

She further advised Nigerians against buying drugs from hawkers and corner medicine stores.

‘Do not buy medicines from hawkers, do not buy medicines from corner stores, buy medicines from pharmacists. Fake medicines cannot be totally eradicated. We can eradicate one class of medicines but not all. That is why we have regulatory agencies so that they can control the level of substandard products in the country.”

Speaking on the destruction of the Tramadol worth 9.5 billion naira, the NAFDAC Director General said that the destruction which took place in Cotonou, Benin Republic is the first of such magnitude in the history of NAFDAC.

She explained that staff of Port Inspection Directorate (PID) of the agency travelled “to Cotonou where the destruction exercise of the five containers took place on December 21 and 22, 2022.

“This international landmark achievement (that had never been recorded in the history of the two countries and NAFDAC) did not come without the unflinching efforts of the staff of Ports Inspection Directorate in Apapa and Seme Border,” she said.