Nigerian doctors and pharmacists in the United States of America are working towards tackling the menace of opioid misuse and addiction in the country.

 

A statement jointly signed by the president of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) Dr Charmaine Emelife   and the president of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA),  and Program Coordinator, Dr Anthony Ikeme yesterday said the two bodies would soon hold  an opioid seminar and naloxone training workshop in Abuja on the 9th of this month.

 

The statement said the goal of the workshop is to equip  Nigerian healthcare professionals with knowledge, skills and tools for combating the challenges of the opioid addiction epidemic.

 

The bodies said the rising misuse of drugs for recreational purposes in Nigeria has been an increasing source of concern for  Nigerian health authorities and healthcare professionals.

The statement said a recent survey led by the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Center for Research and Information on substance abuse showed that over the past year alone, nearly 15% of the adult population in Nigeria, around 14.3 million people, reported a “considerable level” of use of psychoactive drug substances.

 

“This rate is considerably much higher than the 2016 global average of 5.6% among adults. The most common opioid implicated in this crisis is Tramadol and Codeine-based Syrup. Tramadol and Codeine exhibits an effect profile similar to that of other opioid  agonists. They bind to receptors in the brain and spinal cord, disrupting pain signals, “ the statement said.

 

The statement said in addition to tramadol and codeine, other potent mixtures of several drugs with high risk of fatal overdoses have been reported, adding that some young adults are also turning to crude concoctions as alternatives, including smoking lizard parts and dung as well as sniffing glue, petrol, sewage and urine as inhalants.

 

ANPA represents the professional interests of 4,000 plus physicians, dentists and allied health professionals of Nigerian birth, ethnicity or empathy in the United

 

States, Canada and the Caribbean while the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas, Inc. (NAPPSA) is an umbrella organization of Nigerian pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, allied scientists and the academia in the Americas.