CONSUMER PROTECTION AND DRUG MARKETING IN NIGERIA
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CONSUMER PROTECTION AND DRUG MARKETING IN NIGERIA
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Consumer protection is becoming an increasingly prominent problem in this country. Consumers in Nigeria are continually mistreated, but they have remained indifferent to various sorts of trade malpractice perpetrated by sellers and producers.
The effectiveness of marketing as a cannel of consumer commitment will be determined in large part by its ability to improve the quality of consumers’ judgements and maintain fair competitive conditions that allow customers to make free and informed choices between various alternatives.
This will entail providing consumers with considerably more relevant product and service information, such as performance and safety in usage, unit price, and contract terms.
It also means that businessmen must accept that the maintenance of fair competitive market conditions and the safeguarding of consumers’ rights cannot be left entirely to their own self-regulatory codes; however, legislation should be kept at a level and only enacted as a last resort in order to provide successful,
real consumer judgement in the market place, which requires a determined effort to ensure that consumers understand their rights under existing law.
This will include substantial consumer education on the adopted legislation, self-regulating codes of practice, and negative publicity for those who violate such codes.
This, however, will not be improved by removing the consumer’s need to make their own choices, or by imposing market conditions that limit a consumer’s freedom of choice or the means of improving their abilities of judgement.
Based on this preview, we will look into the level of protection provided to drug users by the government and manufacturers, as well as the laws and ethics that govern and regulate organisations involved in drug marketing.
This is because drugs play such an important role in people’s lives. A medication can either help or end a person’s life. It defined the term as “a chemical agent that affects the function of living things” . Drugs are used to prevent, treat, and diagnose diseases.
The research also looks into how, in the case of a low degree of protection, more protective measures might be implemented in order to maintain honest marketing practices in the drug business and promote healthy drug usage or consumption in the country.
Juhel Pharmaceutical Company has been chosen as the case organisation for this study.
A brief history of the company
Juhel Company Limited has been manufacturing and distributing/selling medications in the country for the past eighteen years.
This company, Juhel Pharmaceutical, is located or has its headquarters at 35 Nkwubor Road Emene. The Director’s name is Chief Ifeanyi Okoye. This company also engages in other economic operations, such as (Juhel Filling Station). Juhel Company activities cover the thirty-six states of the federation.
Juhel specialised mostly in Septrin for Children, Juhel Paracetamol, Ampicllox, Vitamin C in white and orange, Babimol Paracetamol for Children, Pastin Extra for Headache and Pain Relief, and Folic Acid. The corporation employs the services of distributors, wholesalers, and direct distribution through its sales team.
To prevent drug adulteration, the company’s quality control department implements methods such as manipulating package material, ranging from labelling to the use of buster packs.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Over the years, Nigerian customers have been subjected to a variety of trade malpractices by producers/sellers. There have been reports of law-quality, contaminated, inferior,
or even fake products being sold to consumers as authentic or legitimate ones. Let us consider the following scenarios. “A dealer sold chalk as Asprin and IPA as methylated spirit.
Drugs across the country are classified. Some are referred to as over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals, while others are poisons that must be purchased with a prescription from an expert.
The patent medication sellers are only allowed to sell the (O.T.C) category. However, many of them sell items in the toxic category because they believe that is where the profit lies.
In light of these factors, the researcher is concerned with establishing the safety of a citizen of the country when consuming or using drugs.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The study’s objectives are to:
1) Determine the safety of the drug market for the country’s users.
2) The government’s level of involvement in guaranteeing drug market safety.
3) To investigate organisations’ activity in light of the marketing philosophy.
4) How do patient medicine dealers’ activities effect the safety of drug consumers?
1.4 Testing of the Hypothesis
Within the framework of the aforesaid objectives, the following hypotheses have been proposed:
Ho: The drug market is safe for all drug users in the country.
Hi: The drug market is safe for all drug users in the country.
Ho: The activities of patent medication sellers have an impact on drug safety for consumers.
Hi: Patent medication sellers’ activities have no effect on the safety of drug users.
1.5 Significance of Study
This study will be extremely beneficial to drug manufacturers or producers, sellers, drug consumers, the government, and researchers alike.
First, this study will help producers enhance and control their marketing efforts.
Second, drug merchants will improve their marketing strategies to better target the needs and desires of their prospective customers, increasing the opportunity for greater profit.
Third, the study will educate consumers on their market rights under the law.
Again, it will assist the government in understanding why the drug market is riddled with unscrupulous drug producers and traffickers, despite all efforts to maintain safety.
Finally, it will assist the researcher in determining the cause of unsafety in the medicine market.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
This study will analyse numerous government decrees governing the manufacture, sale, and distribution of pharmaceuticals. Some of these decrees are the 1974 Food and Drugs Decree and the 1977 Price Control Decree.
Pharmacists legislation 1965 and counterfeit and phoney drug decree 1988. The analysis also includes legislation governing the formation of patent medicine shops, the establishment of a nursing profession, and other laws deemed important to the study.
The works of consumer protection writers are evaluated, such as Bonie and Gordon’s “Development of Consumers Law and Policy: Bold Spirit and Timerous Souls.” The various types of consumer laws pertinent to tour studies written by these authors are examined in light of the results gained in Nigeria.
The examination also includes the roles of the country’s health bodies. The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) works to ensure the safe manufacturing and usage of drugs. Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDIEA), and Federal and State Ministries of Health (represented by the Abia State Ministry of Health in Umuahia).
The scope also includes an investigation into distributors’ attitudes towards guaranteeing consumer safety in the market, as well as measures used by producers to assure the availability of the proper pharmaceuticals in the market and safe use.
This, however, was limited to Juhel Pharmaceutical Company (Nigeria Limited), which served as a case study. This is due to the company’s broader (national) coverage of the pharmaceuticals market.
In addition to investigating the operations of drug sellers in the market, the scope of the investigation includes consumer activities to ensure the safety of these substances.
Some of the challenges that hampered the study’s development stemmed from the obstructive attitude of some consumers, who are uneducated and sceptical of the researcher as a police CID officer claiming to be a student. Other elements that stood out as limitations in the study included finances and time.
FINANCE
The researcher on this topic travels on occasion, and each trip is financially costly. As a student, the researcher struggled to find adequate funding for the research.
TIME
The time frame within which the research was needed, combined with the academic duties that the researcher faced as a final-year student, limited the consideration of certain important topics.
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