By Chioma Obinna

 The Country Manager/Cluster Lead for West Africa,  Pfizer,  Pharm.  Olayinka Subair has stressed the need for industry players to join forces in creating awareness around the dangers of counterfeit medicine and pharmaceutical products.

Subair who spoke when the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Prof. Cyril Usifoh paid a courtesy visit to Pfizer’s office in Nigeria said: “The threat of counterfeits is not going away, Pfizer is seeking collaboration with stakeholders on efforts to educate consumers about counterfeit medicines because patients need the knowledge to protect their health from counterfeiters.

“Counterfeit medicines often miss key ingredients and dosages or contain added harmful ingredients.

“As a result, patients who take counterfeits, including life-saving medicines for cancer and heart disease, lose the therapeutic benefits they rely on to treat their conditions.

To tackle the threat of counterfeits to patient health, Pfizer is collaborating with industry stakeholders to ensure patients have the information they need to avoid counterfeit medicines.

“Pfizer is seeking collaboration with government agencies, pharmaceutical organizations, doctors, pharmacists, and industry partners to help raise awareness of the growing problem of counterfeit medicines.

“Together, we seek to tackle this threat to patient health by stopping counterfeits before they reach patients, giving consumers the information they need to make the right choices, and supporting health care providers in our communities.”

Responding,  the PSN President said: “The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria as a body that seeks to maintain a high standard of Professional ethics and discipline among its members would give all the support to work together with Pfizer. We would see how we can amplify by reaching out to stakeholders and see how far we can go in driving this campaign successfully.”