The Lagos State government says comprehensive plans are underway to address the menace of drug abuse under the mental health policy.
The State government says a law that would take the incessant abuse of drugs which is prevalent among the youths has taken effect.
This comes following a recent ban on the issuance of permit for importation of Codeine Syrup as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for the preparation of cough syrup by the Nigerian Government and also in response to the gross abuse of the substance in the country.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, while reading the score card of his Ministry in the last one year at an event to mark the third year in office of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, said before and after the ban was announced, the State government had been engaging with key stakeholders.
“On the issue of codeine, I must tell you that the Drug Control Unit in the Ministry is very active and we are also operating in conjunction with National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
“The ban principally is a NAFDAC initiative but as a State government, we did not wait, we are more proactive and ever since this issue came to light, the Ministry has been engaging and very soon, we will come out with a more comprehensive programme.
“In line with this, we have updated our own mental health law as against what is happening at the federal level. We have a mental health policy and we are currently now implementing our mental health programme to cover all tiers–primary, secondary and tertiary health care systems,” Dr Idris said
