…Flags-off sensitization campaign in South West
By Hassan Zaggi
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has flagged-off sensitization campaign against indiscriminate use of the bleaching creams in the South West region.
It has, therefore, warned Nigerians to ensure they always know the chemical composition in any cosmetics before using it.
The media sensitization campaign which was flagged up in Ibadan, on Friday, brought together select Journalists from states that make up the South West region of the country including Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, and Ogun.
Speaking while flagging off the campaign, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, warned that bleaching creams have long term consequences on the user.
“it is imperative for me to warn that some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs of the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature skin ageing and prolong healing of wounds.
“A World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) study revealed that use of skin bleaching creams was prevalent among 77 percent of Nigerian women which was highest in Africa compared to 59 percent in Togo, 35 per cent in south Africa and 27 percent women in Senegal.
“This scary statistic has shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multi-faced regulatory approach.
“Part of the multi-pronged approach are consultative/sensitization meetings such as this and heightened raids on distribution outlets of bleaching creams.” Prof. Adeyeye said.
While appealing to journalists to take the issue of bleaching creams serious considering its huge negative consequences, she explained that the “sensitization workshop is a training the Trainers’ programme with the great expectation that participants will assume role of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against use of bleaching creams.”
On his part, the Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr Patrick Leonard Omokpariola, in his presentation titled ‘Safe Handling of Chemicals and Ingredients in the Cosmetics and Food Industry’, warned Nigerians to ensure they check the chemical composition in any cosmetics products before use.
He revealed that a large amount of cosmetics and potentially harmful ingredients are used in hairdressing, skin care and nails services
According to him, these harmful chemical ingredients are regularly inhaled by beauty professionals as well as cosmetics users.
He advised Nigerians to watch out on any cosmetics that contains chemicals such as methyl methacrylate which are used in nail products.
Such chemical, he said, have been known to cause Cancer, developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity, organ system toxicity, cellular damage, neurological damage irritation,, corrosive
