Nigeria warns of counterfeit quinine in market

Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health has warned that fake quinine products for malaria may be in the domestic supply chain.

The FMOH says it has discovered two cases of counterfeit quinine sulphate tablets which on analysis have been found to contain no active ingredient. The falsified antimalarial tablets were discovered in two other West African nations - Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo - but could be distributed within Nigeria.

The use of counterfeit antimalarials can prolong illness and increase the risk of severe disease or death and may also encourage the emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites.

The two counterfeit products are labelled as follows, according to the FMOH:

• Novadina Pharmaceutical Ltd: 1,000 x quinine sulphate 300mg tablets, batch number 10H05, with an expiry date of 09/2018 and a manufacturing date of 09/2014;

• CAD Pharm: 100 x quinine sulphate 300mg tablets, batch number F4387, with an expiry date of 11/2018 and a manufacturing date of 12/2014.