Even
as malaria remains prevalent in Nigeria, the counterfeiting of
anti-mosquito nets remains on the increase, exposing more citizens to
the deadly effects of malaria.
Despite
repeatedly receiving anti-mosquito nets, Remi Olatunde knew next to
nothing about deploying or maintaining the malaria-preventive covers.
When she got new ones from the hospital or shops, the nurses or sellers
had no useful information to help her. Each night, she set the nets up
her way, and not being able to write or read instructions, she ended up
exposing herself and her children to deadly mosquito stings.
A fake net looking real
So
when she gave birth this year, and was given another net at the Mascara
Primary Health Centre, Ketu, Lagos, Mrs. Olatunde pressed a nurse for
clear instructions on how to use it.
The nurse asked her to leave the net outside for an hour before setting it up.
“All
I was told is hang it on the ceiling and enter under it in the night,
she didn’t tell me how to set it up” she recalled recently, speaking in
Yoruba. On how to clean the net when soiled, the nurse advised her to
wash it the way she washed her baby’s clothes.
That
night, her toddler nearly died, gasping for hours to breath inside the
net that appeared over-treated. Mrs. Olatunde managed to pull the kid to
safety in time, ripped off the net and ended with terrible skin rashes
that lasted over a week.
The
net that almost landed the Olatundes in trouble may have been one of
the millions counterfeited by crooked dealers, who, in connivance with
dubious government officials, steal government-treated nets and replace
them with fake stocks to avoid detection.
Months
of investigation by PREMIUM TIMES has shown the risk faced by millions
of Nigerians in using covers that should protect them from malaria, but
that are increasingly hazardous as many are counterfeited by hawkers in a
large-scale illicit trade.
Without
adequate control and monitoring by the authorities, more and more
vendors have joined the trade, buying the free products cheaply from
government storekeepers and selling them to millions of unsuspecting
Nigerians, our investigations show.
When
the government occasionally clamps down on the network, like a recent
jailing of two health workers, sellers not wanting to allow the illicit
markets die, resorted to importation and purchase of fake mosquito nets
which they pass off as treated and approved.
The
nets get to the public more than those provided by the government, as
not only are the counterfeiters more accessible to Nigerians than health
officials, they also produce what passes as “exact” same nets
distributed by the federal government. The difference between the
genuine and the fake nets can hardly be detected on the package as the
counterfeiters produce nets with NAFDAC registration numbers got from
original treated mosquito nets.
Crooked and Hazardous Market
There
are two types in this category of counterfeited products: those bearing
the FG’s nets with the embargo “not to be sold” and those without it,
but having original NAFDAC registration numbers.
“We
produce these two types because some people prefer buying the ones with
‘not to be sold’. They feel that is the original one from government,”
one dealer, Chibuzor Chimaroke, told a PREMIUM TIMES reporter who posed
as a prospective partner.
“Other
people especially the educated people will not buy any net with ‘not to
be sold’, so the other type is meant for those kind of people. We make
sure it has NAFDAC numbers and our own manufacturers use authentic
NAFDAC numbers so you don’t need to be afraid if you buy from us,” Mr.
Chimaroke said.
A
35-year-old single father to five children from different mothers, Mr.
Chimaroke is a secondary school dropout that has made good money running
illegal businesses. He imports most of his own fake nets from China and
gets a few from Upper-Iweka road, Onitsha. He is popularly known as
“Chi Square” around Alaba International Market, a commercial hub in
Lagos state, renowned for counterfeited products in Nigeria.
Indeed,
samples of the nets which Mr. Chimaroke showed PREMIUM TIMES bore
“genuine” National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) registration numbers when the numbers were sent to the agency
for confirmation. Not only that, when compared with some of the
government’s original nets, officially called Long Lasting Treated
Insecticide Nets, LLINs, there was no obvious difference when the
packages were compared.
Some
of the mosquito nets we sampled in markets within Lagos, Kaduna, Abuja
and Kogi states, tallied with the NAFDAC numbers Mr. Chimaroke’s
products carries.
In
a booming trade that involves a network of dealers, unlike Chimaroke,
who produces fake nets with “original” registration numbers, Nnamdi,
popularly known as Fine Boy- still in Alaba market, until recently, got
his supplies from government officials and even health workers from
different parts of the country.
This partly explains why many of the government designated hospitals are frequently out of stock of the live-saving nets.
Nnamdi
said he re-strategized after some of his suppliers were nabbed.
Trusting he was opening up to a co-dealer, he recounted how one of his
government suppliers, who was caught in June 2011 in Asaba Delta state,
was charged to court and sentenced in July this year.
“This
has affected my business as my other government suppliers are
recoiling. I have no choice now but order from Onitsha,” he said.
The
two suppliers he was referring to are Mike Okonkwo and Tracy
Finecountry, who were sentenced in July to 24 years imprisonment. Mr.
Okonkwo was head storekeeper while Ms. Finecountry was his assistant.
They had stolen 100 balls of treated mosquito nets valued at six million
naira under the custody of Millennium Development Goals office Delta
state, an offence punishable under section 390 (9) of the criminal code.
Among
the products sold by Fine Boy, which he buys from Onitsha, include
Dolphin Net, PermaNet 2.0 and Long Lasting Insecticide Nets. The Dolphin
Net comes in a blue nylon pack and has no name, no NAFDAC registration
number, no manufacturing date, expiration date or batch numbers which
all original and certified nets ought to have.
Real PowerNet
In
the case of PermaNet 2.0, which bears A5-0415 as its registration
number, NAFDAC records indicate the number belongs to PermaNet 3.0
treated bed net and not PermaNet 2.0.
The
fact that even government-distributed nets do not have registration
numbers complicate the situation. That was confirmed by Adeline Osakwe,
Director, Pharmacovigilante at NAFDAC.
Fine
Boy, and the likes, have since cashed in on that too. “Except you tell
anyone or the nets are taken to a laboratory for testing, nobody can
ever know they are fake,” he confided, seeking to convince the reporter
to do business.
The Widening Network
The
counterfeiters are spread across the country, but some of the most
brazen dealers were found to be in Onitsha, Anambra state and
Port-Harcourt, Rivers state. There, even inquiries as a prospective
marketer, must go with a deposit fee.
“This way, we are certain you want to buy from us and not waste our time” one dealer, Ufuoma Odogu, in Port Harcourt, said.
Mr.
Odogu is one of the major suppliers to other dealers in Port-Harcourt,
Aba, Onitsha and Owerri. His operations are in two categories: purchase
and resale of original nets stolen from government stores, and
importation and sales of fake nets.
“We
have our people who work in hospitals and other government offices who
get us the real product but at cheaper rate. In order not to be caught,
we give them exactly the same number of nets (fake products) more like
an exchange which they keep with the original in their stores,” he
disclosed.
With such an exchange, dealers pay far less, Mr. Odogu said.
Nets
distributed by the government should go for N6 million for 100 balls
were they to be sold. Depending on the brand, one ball can contain from
30 to 100 nets.
“When
we buy the real and replace with fake, we don’t pay up to N1.5million
for those 100 balls. This type is more convenient. But if you buy
without restocking (with fake products), it is at least N3 million,” Mr.
Odogu said.
Depending
on the brand quality -government supplied or fake – marketers can net
between N3 and N6 million for a ball of net they retail.
Like
other racketeers in the fake net business, Mr. Odogu gets his products
from China and supplies unsuspecting chemists and pharmaceutical stores
as well as dealers who in turn resell to retailers.
“When
you come on board fully, you will be able to tell the difference
between the real one and the other type” he assured the reporter, who
again, posed as a prospective partner.
But
one of the many signs between the two types, Mr. Odogu’s assistant, who
gave his name as Kenny, said, was with the washing and skin reaction on
the user.
“Even
if you dry it (the fake) for 24 hours under a cool shade the way it
ought to be done, it will still itch you and give you skin and other
health reactions,” Kenny said.
The
net will also not last four years as expected. “This way, people will
have to buy more nets and you will remain in business”.
The skin reaction is what the Olatundes and their toddler experienced that night.
The
explanation by Mr. Odogu’s assistant about skin effect somewhat
confirmed explanations by experts on widespread complaints about skin
reaction.
The
Director, Global Malaria Programme, of the WHO, Roberts Newman, had
told PREMIUM TIMES that such prolonged reaction could only occur if
something was wrong with the specific brand of nets.
He
called the trade of counterfeited nets a “crime against humanity”. “The
skin rashes ought not to last long except there is something actually
wrong with the net,” he said.
Many Brands, Many Names
Other
brands of nets in the market include Shielded Mosquito Net and So Fine
Treated Net. NAFDAC however confirmed both nets to be fake.
Fake So Fine net
The
shielded Mosquito Net with a brand payoff: “…durable lasting net even
after twenty washes” bears the NAFDAC registration number 01-0877 and
has the manufacturing address Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa.
When
the Pharmacovigilante Unit of NAFDAC was contacted with the details,
the registration number 01-0877 was said to belong to Indomie Instant
Noodles, while the name Shielded Mosquito Net doesn’t exist in NAFDAC’s
records. The other net, So Fine treated net’s registration number
01-0878 actually belongs to Tehado Table Water while the name So Fine
treated net doesn’t exist in NAFDAC’s records as well.
Also,
all efforts by PREMIUM TIMES to locate the address of Shielded Mosquito
Net was futile as the address very close to it is that of Witwaterstand
University, South Africa which is: Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South
Africa. The net’s address in essence is non-existent.
One
of the most counterfeited nets our findings indicate is the PermaNet
with NAFDAC number 04-7508. While both the original and fake have 16458
as their batch numbers, the genuine was produced on 03/2013 and would
expire on 03/2017, the fake on the other hand was supposedly produced on
10/2008 with its expiration date indicating 10/20.
Every net lasts for a maximum of four years before it expires or a maximum of 20 washes.
Malaria Still a Burden in Nigeria
Notwithstanding
the Roll Back Malaria’s latest report published in July this year that
malaria is down by one-third in Africa, it remains Nigeria’s number one,
and one of the world’s most prevalent sources of illness.
Caused
by protozoan parasites of the genus plasmodium, the most serious forms
of the disease are caused by plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium
vivax-both transmitted by female anopheles mosquitoes.
Nigeria
is well known for a high prevalence of malaria, which is also a leading
cause of morbidity and mortality among its citizenry.
Latest
scorecard released by NOI Polls- a leading opinion polling and research
organization which works in partnership with the Gallup organization
(USA) to develop opinion research in Nigeria, on April 16th this year,
showed that almost seven in 10 Nigerians (66%) had malaria at least once
in 2012, and about 13% treat the ailment with the use of local herbs
such as Agbo, Dogonyaro, Neem leaves and lemon grass.
The former, accounts for over 45 percent of all outpatient visits in hospitals.
On
geo-political zones, malaria is more prevalent in the South than in the
North. Again, the malaria scorecard indicated that majority of the
residents in the northern regions; North-Central (43%) North-East (38%)
and North-West (38%)) have not had malaria over the past 12 months while
the southern regions; South-South (77%), South-East (75%) and
South-West (64%) have the largest percentage of people who have had
malaria more than once over the last 12 months.
Also,
statistics by the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) indicate
that in 2010 the disease accounted for 25 per cent of infant mortality
and 30 per cent of childhood mortality in Nigeria.
One
of the government’s response to malaria is the use of Long Lasting
Insecticide treated Nets (LLIN), which protects users from mosquito
bites.
Original LLIN with NAFDAC number
As
at 2012, the the Nigerian government distributed no fewer than 51,
703,880 free insecticide nets worth over N30billion. As part of the
strategic intervention, N1.8billion was equally earmarked this year for
the purchase of 36million nets.
Nigeria
also got two grants from Global Funds valued at $225m as part of her
Phase-2 grant in boosting malaria prevention and treatment in the
country in 2013. This project is geared at reaching at least 80 percent
of pregnant women and children below five years in the country.
Unfortunately,
with nefarious activities of touts and counterfeiters, much of the
expenses might end up in the wrong hands as officials sell what should
be free. With the counterfeiting, Nigeria also risks not meeting its MDG
target 6 which has to do with the reduction of malaria.
Children at Risk
As
a way of monitoring LLINs supply in the country, only certain
insecticide treated nets and re-treatments kits were approved for use in
Nigeria and these include: K.O net, K-O tab; Solfac net; Solfac
treatment kit all supplied by CHI limited, Nigeria.
Others
are Iconet; Iconet treatment kit supplied by Sygenta Nigeria Ltd;
Al-Cypernet; Al-Cypernet treatment kit supplied by Harvestfield
Industries Ltd, Nigeria; PowerNet and PowerNet treatment kit supplied by
Sunflag Ltd, Nigeria and PermaNet with Dangote Holdings Ltd, Nigeria as
the supplier.
Notwithstanding
these efforts, our market surveys and monitoring since September 9th,
2013 when most schools resumed across the country, revealed that many
parents bought fake nets for their children returning to boarding
schools.
Many
schools operating boarding facilities across the country have made it
mandatory for every returning student to resume with at least an LLINs,
while parents have been purchasing PowerNet with NAFDAC registration
number 14722753 and which was supposedly manufactured on 19/02/2012 but
has no stated expiration date as well as batch number as the most
purchased.
But when NAFDAC was contacted with these details, the response was “PowerNet….does not exist”.
Further
investigations reveal that the original PowerNET has the NAFDAC
registration number A5-0256 and not 14722753. The real product bearing
the name PowerNet has 4722-3 as its batch number and was manufactured on
19/02/12 and last for only four years but like other nets would lose
its efficacy before 2016 if washed more than 20 times.
Another
fake net being bought en mass is the PermaNet with NAFDAC number
04-7508 which was supposedly produced on 10/2008 with its expiration
date indicating 10/20. This particular brand has a wide patronage in
Kaduna state, especially at the central market.
When
confronted with the findings, Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu,
initially expressed shock and said it wasn’t possible. When however
presented with the experiences of this reporter, he promised
investigations.
“There
is going to be zero tolerance; ….it’s not an easy thing anywhere in the
world to fight a fake product whether it is fake currency or fake
commodities, it is not an easy thing. We are determined and NAFDAC is
introducing a lot of innovative ways to monitor it,” he said.
The Director, Global Malaria Programme, of the WHO, Mr Newman, said the WHO will be focusing more on net counterfeiting.
“It
is a crime against humanity and I hope every African leader note this
and gear up to this potential challenge that could slow or stop us from
even meeting the MDG target on malaria. The counterfeiters must be
stopped before they get out of hands,” he said.
Namibia’s Minister of Health, Richard Kamwi, said his country had similar experience.
“One
of the way to win the war against these counterfeiters is to push for
good quality control check before shipping and after shipping,” he
stated.
Fatoumata
Nafo-Traore, Executive Director, Roll Back Malaria, said the
operational capacity, financial resources and delivery systems of
commodities are crucial and need to be re-strategized if the war against
the counterfeiters must be won.
“We
must do all these without relenting,” she said. “If we relax, we would
lose this war and there would be a rebound on the progress made so far,
thus, we would have time, resources wastage and of course, unnecessary
deaths.”
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