Tuesday, 19 June 2012

350,000 cancer cases diagnosed in Nigeria annually —NAFDAC

THE Director-General (DG) of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, has said no fewer than 350,000 cases of cancer is now being diagnosed annually in the country.

The NAFDAC boss, who spoke at an interactive session with the academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, on Monday, noted that the dreaded diseases was spreading fast, due to chemicals in food intake.

He regretted that some of the foods people took contained some chemicals that were dangerous to human health and noted that the agency was not resting on its oars to ensure the control of packaged foods in the country, particularly imported foods.

Orhii advocated locally-made food items, such as wheat and rice, which, he said, could be produced in abundance locally and described as better than imported foods.

He specifically mentioned that Benue State at present had a comparative advantage of rice production over other countries, regretting the huge amount being spent on the importation of rice and wheat annually by Nigerians.

The NAFDAC boss promised that the agency would be working closely with farmers to monitor the indiscriminate use of chemicals through enlightenment campaigns, so as to halt the rate of death associated with foods.

He also canvassed for the use and consumption of cassava bread in the country, stressing that no major havoc had ever been recorded from casava intake, apart from the unhygenic situations, adding that some countries in Europe were already yearning for cassava products.

Source:tribune

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