Healthgarde decries sale of unregulated wellness products, demands govt action

2026-02-15 - 06:19

By Matilda Ikediobi Multilevel marketing company, Healthgarde International, has urged government to intensify efforts to tackle fake wellness products through tighter regulation, saying roadside and bus sellers must be compelled to seek approval from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Nneka Nwarueze, expressed concern over the sale of wellness products priced between N1,000 and N2,000, saying such pricing was unrealistic under current economic conditions. Nwarueze spoke during Healthgarde International’s sixth anniversary celebration held in Lagos. According to her, government agencies must sustain regular checks to ensure compliance, particularly among informal sellers. She said: “The wellness industry is a vast one, and government can carry out checks and balances, as NAFDAC is doing. What government can do is to continue checking and ensuring that everyone, especially those who sell products on buses, has NAFDAC numbers. “Are those numbers approved? For those selling products for between N1,000 and N2,000, there is no way you can manufacture a genuine product and sell it for N1,000; it is impossible. By the time you factor in packaging, cartons and all other costs, you will see that such products are either fake or substandard. Therefore, the government can do more in that area.” Also speaking at the event, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Lovelyn Bassey, called for better funding for manufacturers by government, saying such funding should come at low interest rates. She said: “If manufacturers can get more funding from government at low interest rates, that would be great. Also, more bilateral agreements between Nigeria and other countries will help us import at lower prices. Last year, we started to focus a little more on local manufacturing. “We applied for our Good Manufacturing Practice licence from NAFDAC to ensure that our factory is up to standard. We are gradually moving from everything being imported to partial importation, with some products now being made and manufactured locally as well.” On what the company is doing differently, she said: “We always try to bring the African experience into all our products. We make sure that whatever we offer caters to African society because not everyone has the same issues. Obviously, we sell our products outside Nigeria as well, and we have products that work for people everywhere. “But we must ensure that at the core of what we do, we are constantly caring for Africans. Even in our business model, we ensure that it fits the African market.” Meanwhile, a director at the organisation, Mary Aloko, testified to the effectiveness of the products, saying: “I have been with this company for 19 years, and it has truly turned my life around. As a graduate, I never got a job. But when I came in contact with this company, my life changed. I joined the business because of arthritis and rheumatism, and I have been using the products to stay healthy.”