NAFDAC champions food, drug safety education into schools

AS part of efforts to continually safeguard the health of the nation, the National Agency For Food Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), and the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council, (NERDC), have concluded plans to infuse food and drug safety education into the basic school education curriculum.Speaking on the importance of the infusion during the planning and writing workshop for the curricula last week, the Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii noted that the infusion will indeed re-orient the youth and re-direct their energies away from antisocial behaviour towards safe health habits and meaningful development, promotion of NAFDAC fight against fake drugs and other substandard products, sensitise young ones on the need to safeguard the health of their community, at the same time assisting in information flow on all other NAFDAC regulatory activities.The contents of the curriculum is to be infused into relevant carriers subjects in Basic Education, primary 1-6 and Junior Secondary School, JSS 1-3 and senior secondary school education.Orhi further explained, 'it is our expectation that the workshop would produce materials for infusion which would adequately cover the following issues of importance amongst others such as identification, sources, implications of fake, counterfeit, substandard and unwholesome food and medicines, to the society, to the wellbeing of the citizenry and their negative economic implications to the nation and individual, issues and implications of drug abuse and misuse; and the roles of the consumers, distributors and manufacturers on food and drug safety issues.'Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), Prof. Godswill Obioma commended the efforts of NAFDAC for taking a giant stride to infuse and impact in school children about the knowledge and awareness on the use, misuse and abuse of products.He said that to infuse food and drug safety, several subjects has been identified, such as basic science and technology, pre-vocational subject, religion and national values, business studies and English studies.
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