Safety warnings and first aid instructions on consumer and pharmaceutical products in Nigeria: has there been an improvement?

OBJECTIVES To investigate the adequacy of safety warnings and first aid instructions on the labels of pharmaceutical and consumer products in Nigeria. METHODS A market basket method (total collection of all available samples) was used to investigate the adequacy of safety warnings and first aid instructions on the labels of 600 pharmaceutical and consumer products in Nigeria. RESULTS The results showed that 69.8% of the products had adequate warnings whereas 385 (64.1%) of the products screened had legible product warnings. Only 52 (8.7%) of the total number of products had appropriate first aid instructions while only 25 (4.12%) of the products described symptoms and full treatment of poisoning by the product and 319 (53.2%) products surveyed recommended calling a health professional. A total of 31 (5.2%) products had labels that were considered too technical (non English). Of the 600 products, 386 (64.3%) had dosage instructions that were considered adequate while 538 (89.6%) had adequate storage instructions. About 68% of the products had partially correct warnings while 44 or 7.3% had partially correct first aid instructions. Some products had neither warnings nor first aid instructions. CONCLUSION This study suggests a not too impressive improvement in the correctness and appropriateness of label information.