The Consumer Protection Council on Tuesday restated its commitment to protecting Nigerian consumers.
The Director-General, CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, during a media briefing to commemorate the 2016 World Consumer Rights Day in Abuja, also drew the attention of the nation to the rising incidence of antibiotics resistance.
She counselled consumers against self-medication and misuse of antibiotics, adding that these could lead to resistance.
Atoki said, “Antibiotics resistance is currently very rampant in the country, it has led to mass failure of medical interventions such as organ transplant, surgeries and other forms of treatment that require follow up actions with antibiotics to ensure full recovery of patients.
“It has equally led to needless deaths and caused huge embarrassment to health professionals in the country. In Nigeria, the menace of fake, adulterated, counterfeit or sub-standard drugs, noncompliance with dosage as prescribed by medical practitioners, self-medication, and unnecessary prescription of antibiotics have been largely implicated in antibiotics resistance in the country.
“The correlation between antibiotic resistance and consumer protection is not far-fetched. Antibiotic resistance impedes the consumer’s right to health and safety, which the Consumer Protection Council Act aims to protect, among others.”
Reviewing the council’s achievements under her watch, Atoki said the adoption of sectoral intervention as a consumer protection strategy to achieve best practices in the market-place had yielded enormous benefits.
“Complaints about half-filled cans and foreign substances in drinks, including rusty bottle tops, have greatly reduced,” she added.
-punchng