The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has raised the alarm about the growth of “dangerous” and “unregulated” bleaching creams on the market.
The agency cautioned of the hazard on Wednesday in a one-day workshop conducted for media stakeholders in Enugu State headlined, “The dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls.”
Delivering an address at the flag-off of the workshop, the Director General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who was represented by the Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr Patrick Omokpariola, stated, “I must 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 the healing of wounds.
Adeyeye advised Nigerian women to be proud of their skin hue, stating, “There’s no need to bleach.”
She added, “A World Health Organisation 2018 survey found that usage of skin bleaching creams was widespread among 77 per cent of Nigerian women which was highest in Africa compared to 59 per cent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 per cent women in Senegal.
“This terrifying number has proven that the scourge of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that demands a multi-faced regulatory solution. Part of the multi-pronged effort includes consultative/sensitisation gatherings such as these and heightened raids on distribution outlets of bleaching creams.”
The DG, however, noted that the sensitisation workshop was in fulfilment of her promise to cascade it to the six geo-political zones in the country as a deliberate strategy of mobilising, educating, sensitising, and challenging Nigerian Health journalists to play a frontline role in their concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams and needless waste of scarce resources in Nigeria.
