2008 "hero" wages war on bogus drugs
By Alexandra Hazlett
February 25, 2008
The Ohio University African Student Union named Dora Nkem Akunyili the 2008 recipient of the African Heroes Award.
Akunyili serves as director general of the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Her main priority has been reducing the amount of counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs in Nigeria, and under her tenure the percentage of these drugs in Nigeria has fallen from 70 percent to 10 percent. She is known in her country as the “no nonsense NAFDAC madam.”
A scheduling conflict presented Akunyili from attending the Saturday dinner at OU in order to receive the award. Accepting it on her behalf was Ibrahim Auwalu, consul-general of the Consulate General of Nigeria in New York. Reading from a speech prepared by Akunyili, Auwalu expressed “sincere thanks” for the honor.
“I wish to dedicate this award to the countless groups of people across Nigeria… and to those victims of counterfeit drugs, especially my sister,” Akunyili wrote.
The threat of fake pharmaceuticals is a real one in Nigeria. Akunyili’s sister, a diabetic, died at age 21 after taking fake insulin. In 2003, four Nigerian children died on the operating table after nurses administered what turned out to be counterfeit adrenaline in order to restart their hearts after an operation. Other oft-counterfeited drugs are those meant to treat tuberculosis and malaria.
In 2001, when Akunyili took office, it was speculated that 68 percent of Nigeria’s pharmaceuticals were fake, she said in her speech, calling drug counterfeiting “one of the sincere atrocities of our time.” She focused on tougher inspections and prosecutions, creating a stricter regulatory environment for drug companies, and promoting “wholesomeness and quality” of medication.
Her office also ran an aggressive public-education campaign to warn citizens of the dangers of counterfeit drugs and to encourage them to help in the effort to eradicate them. To date, her office has destroyed over $190 million worth of counterfeit drugs.
The model of education and regulation began with NAFDAC’s campaign to provide safe drinking water to Nigerians. After public education on how to sanitize drinking water, as well as a registration program for commercial distributors, cholera is no longer the pandemic disease it once was.
Akunyili’s work earned her enemies, most notably the drug gangs who profited immensely from the import and sale of fake pharmaceuticals. She was the victim of an assassination attempt in 2003. The bullet grazed her head, but she was not seriously injured.
Criminal and civil charges were filed by the Nigerian government against American drug giant Pfizer in 2007 for the effects from a 1996 drug trial. The government alleges that Pfizer did not properly inform parents of their options or obtain their consent before testing the meningitis drug Trovan on their children. Officials charged that the company’s actions resulted in the deaths of some children and the paralysis, deafness, blindness and brain damage of others.
African Student Union President Gcina Mavinbela said that the director general was chosen for the award based on voting by members of ASU. Nominations were submitted and then narrowed to three candidates.
The first African Heroes night was in the early 1990s and was organized in order to commemorate the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African prison, according to Steve Howard, director of the African Studies Department. It was estimated that over 150 people attended the Saturday night event, which also included food, a demonstration of African dancing, and several poetry recitations.
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