EFFECTS OF CONSUMERISM IN MARKETING OF FAKE/COUNTERFEIT DRUGS IN NIGERIA
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EFFECTS OF CONSUMERISM IN MARKETING OF FAKE/COUNTERFEIT DRUGS IN NIGERIA
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Consumerism is a phenomenon that is unique to the connection between markets and their customers. It is a phrase with multiple meanings depending on who is directly involved.
However, to the consumer, it is an organised movement of consumers, governments, and concerned individuals working to defend them from activities that violate their rights.
In general, consumerism is a pro-marketing movement in which manufacturers, consumers, and the government work together to safeguard customers from the myriad exploitations that result from the consumption of marketed goods and services.
Consumer protection was formerly known as consumerism, which refers to the protection of purchasers’ interests against defective, low-quality, and harmful items.
However, current discourse and rigid application of the term now equate consumerism negatively with people’s strong identification with the products they consume with passion, particularly those with a commercial brand.
Consumerism has been gaining traction in the United States and Europe for over 30 years, and its supporters believe that all consumers have a fundamental right to products that are safe to use, effective to use, economical, dependable,
honestly labelled, and advertised. They have been very proactive in ensuring that consumers’ “rights” are guaranteed, either by the firms selling the products or by the government of the country.
The historical declaration of late President J.F. Kennedy on March 15, 1962, when he enunciated the four basic consumer rights that need to be protected (Rights To Safety, Right To Choice, Right To Information, And Right To Seek Redress) proves that consumers cannot determine the safety and quality of manufactured products on their own but must rely on government to protect them, particularly in the absence of a direct contractual agreement between them and the manufacturer.
President Kenedy’s Landmark Declaration was not only endorsed by the UN General Assembly, but it was also broadened to encompass the rights to education, representation, basic needs, and a healthy environment.
Thus, the United Nations principles for consumer protection, adopted on April 9, 1985, urged member countries to develop, improve, and maintain a robust and active consumer protection strategy.
In Nigeria, successive governments established suitable legislative and institutional arrangements for consumer protection, which were continually upgraded in response to political, scientific, technological, and industrial growth.
The advancement of health protection status throughout time led to the founding of the NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL (NAFDAC) in 1992.
NAFDAC rose to prominence as the government’s primary consumer protection agency because the products it regulate are critical to consumers’ health, social, and economic well-being.
Its primary goal is to promote and protect public health, and they have full authority to regulate the importation, exportation, manufacturing, advertising, distribution, sale, and use of drugs, processed foods, bottled water, chemicals, and cosmetics to ensure that the public has access to safe, high-quality drugs and related products.
Drug and associated product proliferation is a global public health issue since the impact extends from the country of manufacture to the recipient countries. As a result, governmental actions to resist them in countries may be insufficient due to the improved expertise of individuals who make and sell them (Bates 2008).
To date, Nigeria has not been immune to the problem of fake/counterfeit medications. It poses a significant threat to consumers and society as a whole. Protecting customers against counterfeit medications is one of the most important responsibilities facing countries.
It is the biggest evil of our day, the most potent weapon of terrorism against public health, and an act of economic sabotage. Nobody benefits from this bad wind. Fake medications are more dangerous than malaria, HIV/AIDS, and armed robbery combined.
This is because malaria, HIV/AIDS, and violent robbery can all be avoided, whereas fake/counterfeit medications kill in large numbers, and anyone can become a victim.
Fake/counterfeit pharmaceuticals have embarrassed our health care providers and eroded the public’s trust in our healthcare delivery system. The development has resulted in treatment failures, organ dysfunction/damage, worsening of chronic conditions, and the deaths of many Nigerians.
This situation has gotten so terrible that even when patients are treated with genuine medicines, they no longer respond due to resistance caused by earlier use of bogus medications.
Local medication manufacture has become unattractive due to unfair competition. Many global corporations, including Sandoz, Boehringer, and Boots, have diverted and left Nigeria out of displeasure. Other West African countries, such as Ghana and Sierra Leone, formally refused to accept pharmaceuticals made in Nigeria.
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