The Lagos State Government has taken a step towards tightening oversight of cosmetic products and procedures with the formal presentation of the National Policy on Cosmetics Safety and Health and its implementation plan.
The policy was unveiled at the exit meeting of the Lagos State Engagement on the framework, held at the Conference Room of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, bringing to a close a four-day stakeholder session that began on March 10 at the Sojourner Hotel.
Addressing participants on Friday, Kemi Ogunyemi, Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, said the engagement was timely, citing a recent cosmetic surgery-related death in Lagos that is currently under investigation by the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA).
Ogunyemi said the incident underlined the urgency of stronger regulation across the sector, stressing that patient safety remained a top priority for the state government.
According to her, the authorities were examining the circumstances surrounding the procedure, including the drugs used and their sources.
Ogunyemi told stakeholders that Lagos would pursue full implementation of the policy across the cosmetics value chain, covering manufacturers, suppliers, training institutions and health facilities, adding that the state intended to set the benchmark for other parts of the country.
From the federal perspective, Paul Okhakhu, Director of Cosmetics Safety in the Food and Drug Services Department of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the policy was developed in response to rising cases of adverse health effects linked to unsafe cosmetic products.
Okhakhu explained that incidents involving adulterated, poorly formulated and substandard cosmetics had prompted the government to act, stressing that the policy was validated in Lagos before being launched at the 66th National Council on Health in Calabar, Cross River State.
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He added that the framework would guide regulatory action and help states develop tailored implementation plans.
Okhakhu also disclosed that the Federal Government was building a national dashboard to track progress across states, saying Lagos was selected for early engagement because of its role as Nigeria’s commercial hub.
Similarly, Olawale Poluyi, Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, described the engagement as a key milestone, assuring the visiting team that resolutions reached would translate into concrete actions.
The four-day session brought together 49 participants from federal and state agencies, regulators, academia, industry groups, cosmetology practitioners, civil society organisations and the media.
The aim was to review the cosmetics safety landscape in Lagos and develop a state action plan focused on public health protection.
Notably, the move follows a recent enforcement action by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), which announced the discovery of a warehouse stocked with banned, substandard and unregistered cosmetic products in Lagos.
In a post on its X account, NAFDAC said the haul, valued at more than N3 billion, was uncovered at the APT Trade Fair Complex, concealed within an uncompleted building.
Items recovered included hundreds of cartons of banned soaps, alongside assorted perfumes, body oils and cooking oils, which were placed on hold for further regulatory assessment.