Pharmaceutical Firm Behind West Africa’s Drug Crisis Unmasked

A surprising BBC Eye Investigation has uncovered how an Indian pharmaceutical firm, Aveo Prescription drugs, was illegally manufacturing and exporting extremely addictive opioids to West Africa, fueling a rising public well being disaster.

The Mumbai-based firm produced unlicensed tablets containing a harmful mixture of tapentadol, a potent opioid, and carisoprodol, a banned muscle relaxant. These medication, marketed beneath varied model names, have been being broadly bought on the streets of Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, regardless of being unlawful in these international locations.

A BBC undercover operative, posing as a Nigerian businessman, infiltrated Aveo’s manufacturing unit and secretly filmed an organization director, Vinod Sharma, brazenly selling the harmful tablets.

Within the footage printed by the BBC, Sharma acknowledged the dangerous results of the medication however dismisses considerations, saying, “That is very dangerous for his or her well being—however these days, that is enterprise.”

The devastating affect of the opioids is obvious in West Africa. In Tamale, Ghana, an growing variety of younger individuals are hooked on the medication, prompting native chief Alhassan Maham to kind a volunteer activity pressure to grab and destroy illicit tablets.

In Nigeria, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), chairman of the Nationwide Drug Regulation Enforcement Company (NDLEA), warned that opioids are “devastating our youths, our households, and each neighborhood in Nigeria.”

In accordance with BBC World Service/BBC Eye report, “Indian legislation prohibits the manufacture and export of unlicensed medication except they meet the importing nation’s rules, nevertheless, Aveo has been delivery these opioids to Ghana, violating Indian and worldwide drug legal guidelines. The Indian drug regulator, the Central Medication Commonplace Management Organisation (CDSCO), said that the federal government was dedicated to stopping unlawful pharmaceutical exports and has pledged to take speedy motion in opposition to any firms concerned in malpractice.”

Officers from Nigeria’s drug enforcement businesses, together with NAFDAC and the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), confirmed that efforts have been underway to crack down on unlawful opioid distribution community. Current raids in Lagos State and different cities have led to a number of arrests and the seizure of billions of naira price of illicit medication.

Public well being advocates are calling for stronger diplomatic strain on India to carry Aveo Prescription drugs accountable.

For example, the manager director of Company Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, emphasised the necessity for punitive motion, stating, “In case you don’t get punished for against the law, you’ll do it once more.”

The BBC’s findings have sparked outrage, with requires tighter worldwide controls on pharmaceutical exports. Because the disaster deepens, authorities in West Africa proceed to battle the inflow of unlawful opioids, hoping to guard future generations from the devastating penalties of dependancy.