National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control has urged Nasarawa residents to make good use of its Mobile Authentication Service (MAS) scheme on drugs before using them to authenticate if the drugs are real or fake.
Coordinator of NAFDAC in Nasarawa state Bulus Msheila, made this known in a chat with newsmen on Monday in Lafia, said the MAS scheme by NAFDAC is a unique strategy aimed at ensuring that consumers of drugs get the authentic product they need at all times hence the need for Nasarawa residents to embrace it for the benefit of their health.
The scheme uses scratch codes and Short Messaging Service (SMS) to empower consumers to verify the authenticity of medicines at the point of purchase. The consumer scratches the panel on the product which reveals a unique, one time use Personal Identification Number (PIN).
The PIN is sent toll-free to a short code using any of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) operators in the country and the consumer gets receives a response in for of a text message stating that the product is genuine or fake.
Msheila however explained that for now, only antibiotics, antimalaria, antidiabetics and hypertensive drugs have been captured by the MAS scheme, thereby appealing to consumers using this group of drugs to always authenticate the drugs before usage.
"If you buy these drugs, you will see a scratch panel on the pack. Once you scratch it, certain numbers will be revealed. You text it to a certain number near the panel you scratched. It is free. NAFDAC has paid for it. After texting it, you will receive immediate response telling you whether the drug is original or not," He said.
He noted that the call became imperative because compliance was not high enough, adding that even the elites in the society do not apply the check before using the drugs, adding,"Most of these drugs have it but even the elites do not even care to scratch and verify the authenticity of the drugs they are about to use. If you scratch and receive negative response, quietly report to us and we will take appropriate action."
It will be recalled that in 2010, NAFDAC deployed the MAS scheme as one of the anti counterfeiting strategies to detect Substandard and Falsified medical products especially drugs.
