Nigeria: Dora Akunyili - The Nigerian Public Servant Who Took on the Fake Drugs Trade

By Pete Kingsley, University of Edinburgh

With the death of Nigeria's Dora Akunyili, a passionate campaigner against falsified and substandard medicines, the fight against fake drugs in Africa just got more difficult. Akunyili was director-general of the country's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) from 2001 to 2009. During her tenure, she led high-profile campaigns against ineffective drugs in the Nigerian marketplace, winning international acclaim and numerous accolades in the process. Yet despite Akunyili and other campaigners building widespread attention and momentum about fake and substandard medicines, they remain a major concern in Nigeria, and indeed much of the developing world.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.