The Lagos State Government has begun moves to strengthen the regulation of cosmetic products and procedures following a recent cosmetic surgery-related death in the state.
The
Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Kemi Ogunyemi, disclosed
this during the presentation of the National Policy on Cosmetics Safety and
Health and its Implementation Plan at the Lagos State Ministry of Health.
The
presentation formed part of the exit meeting of a four-day stakeholder
engagement on the policy held in Lagos.
Ogunyemi
said the government was currently investigating the circumstances surrounding
the death of a woman who reportedly died after undergoing cosmetic surgery in
the state.
According
to her, the incident is being investigated by the Health Facilities Monitoring
and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), including the drugs used for the procedure
and their sources.
“This
engagement could not have come at a better time. Only this week, we had an
unfortunate incident where a well-known lady died in Lagos following cosmetic
surgery,” Ogunyemi said.
She
stressed that the government would not tolerate unsafe medical or cosmetic
practices, adding that patient safety remains a top priority.
“When
even one person dies, it means something has gone wrong, and we certainly do
not want such incidents to happen again,” she said.
Ogunyemi
noted that the state government would ensure effective implementation of the
National Policy on Cosmetics Safety and Health across the cosmetics value
chain, including manufacturers, suppliers, training institutions and health
facilities.
She
added that Lagos would continue to take the lead among states in implementing
policies aimed at improving consumer safety.
Director
of Cosmetics Safety in the Food and Drug Services Department of the Federal
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Paul Okhakhu, said the policy was
developed to address increasing cases of health complications linked to unsafe
cosmetic products.
Okhakhu
explained that reports of adverse reactions from adulterated, wrongly
formulated and substandard cosmetic products prompted the Federal Government to
develop a national framework to regulate the sector.
“We
have been seeing cases of people experiencing adverse events as a result of the
use of adulterated, wrongly formulated or substandard cosmetic products, and
because of this the government decided to take the matter seriously,” he said.
According
to him, the policy was validated in Lagos and later launched at the 66th
National Council on Health in Calabar to guide regulatory actions and support
states in developing their own implementation plans.
Okhakhu
added that the Federal Government was also developing a national dashboard to
monitor the progress of implementation across states.
He
said Lagos was selected for early engagement because of its strategic
importance as Nigeria’s commercial hub.
“If we
are able to get it right in Lagos, we believe we can get it right in other
states,” he said.
In her
remarks, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services in the Lagos State Ministry of
Health, Pharm. Olawale Poluyi, described the engagement as a major step toward
strengthening cosmetics safety in the
state.
She
said the ministry would ensure that resolutions reached during the engagement
translate into concrete actions to improve regulation and consumer protection.
The
four-day engagement brought together 49 participants from federal and state
government agencies, regulatory bodies, academia, industry associations,
cosmetology practitioners, civil society organisations and the media.
Participants
reviewed the cosmetics safety landscape in Lagos and developed a State
Cosmetics Safety Action Plan aimed at protecting public health and ensuring
safer cosmetic products and procedures.
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