The Lagos State Government announced that it has taken a major step toward strengthening the regulation of cosmetic products and procedures with the presentation of the National Policy on Cosmetics Safety and Health, along with its implementation plan.

The policy was formally presented during the exit meeting of the Lagos State Engagement on the National Policy on Cosmetics Safety and Health held at the Conference Room of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, marking the conclusion of a four-day stakeholder engagement which began on Tuesday, March 10 at the Sojourner Hotel, GRA, Ikeja.

Speaking at the meeting on Friday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Mrs. Kemi Ogunyemi, said the engagement was timely, citing a recent cosmetic surgery-related death in Lagos, which is currently under investigation by the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA).

“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,” she said, adding that relevant authorities were investigating the circumstances, including the drugs used and their sources.

The special adviser emphasised that patient safety remains a top priority for the Lagos State Government, noting that regulating cosmetic products and procedures is crucial to protecting citizens.

“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 further assured stakeholders that the government would ensure effective implementation of the policy across the entire cosmetics value chain, including manufacturers, suppliers, training institutions, and health facilities.

She added that Lagos would continue to set the pace for other states in implementing the policy.

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 the increasing cases of adverse health effects associated with unsafe cosmetic products.

“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,” Okhakhu said.

He further explained that the policy, which was validated in Lagos and later launched at the 66th National Council on Health in Calabar, Cross River State, was designed to guide regulatory actions and support the development of state-specific action plans to address cosmetic safety challenges.

Okhakhu added that the Federal Government was developing a national dashboard to track implementation progress across states, noting that Lagos was selected for early engagement because of its strategic role 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.

Similarly, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Olawale Poluyi, described the engagement as an important milestone in the implementation journey of the policy in the state.

“Every journey begins with a step, and today marks an important step in the implementation of this policy,” Poluyi said, assuring the visiting team that the Lagos State Ministry of Health would ensure that the resolutions reached during the engagement translated into concrete actions.

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 to assess the cosmetics safety landscape in Lagos and develop a state cosmetics safety action plan aimed at protecting public health.

N3bn Fake Cosmetics

This comes weeks after the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it uncovered’a warehouse stocked with banned, substandard, and unregistered cosmetic products in Lagos.

In a statement on its X (former Twitter) page, NAFDAC disclosed that the products, valued at over N3 billion, were uncovered at the APT Trade Fair Complex.

It said that the facility was concealed within an uncompleted building.

“NAFDAC has uncovered a warehouse stocked with banned, fake, and unregistered cosmetic products valued at over N3 billion at the APT Trade Fair Complex in Lagos state.

“Items recovered include 728 cartons of Crusader soap, 718 cartons of E45 soap, and Extract Gold whitening soaps, which are products banned by the Federal Government,” it stated on X.

The agency further said that additional items, such as assorted perfumes, body oils, and cooking oils, were also found and placed on hold for further regulatory assessment. (Channels TV)