The increasing cases of self-medication in Nigeria especially among the rural dwellers is alarming. In this report, CHIKA OKEKE reveals that the prevailing lifestyle has led many to untimely deaths while few survivors are contending with drug-resistant ailments.

 

When Peter Onwe left his residence in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital to learn a trade in Lagos in the year 2000, his parents agreed that he would spend six years with his master who trades in textile materials.

 

Three years into his apprenticeship, Peter noticed, to his dismay, that he began to have frequent sensation of some objects crawling around his body, a condition he had never experienced in his life. He informed his master of the development with the hope that he would be taken to see the family doctor.

 

Narrating his ordeal, he said the master turned down the option of visiting the family physician, rather, he informed him that it was his veins that were malfunctioning since he was a man, adding that the feeling of crawling objects was one of the signs of puberty.

 

He noted that as he travelled to his home town in the Southeast to seek for alternative medication for the ailment, he purchased some herbs while in transit. The hawker had assured him that it cures all forms of diseases including moving objects in the body.

 

He said that two days after he returned to Lagos, he began to stool and vomit and eventually, he collapsed.

 

According to him, “I was rushed to the hospital where I was placed on drip. When I regained consciousness, the doctor asked if I ate anything that was not compatible with my system because the test conducted revealed that I ate something working contrary to my system.

 

“I couldn’t remember eating any food that is alien to my system except the herb which I informed him that I bought inside the bus. The doctor screamed upon hearing that I drank herbal mixture without prescription from qualified personnel.

 

“Though he cautioned me to keep away from self medication since it could cause liver and other dangerous diseases, he equally blamed my master for neglecting me when I complained about my health.”

 

Onwe’s dilemma is comparable to that of over 75 per cent of the population that fall back on self-medication for survival due to poverty and absence of accessible health care facility. Due to these shortcomings, quack doctors and herb sellers have flooded the markets with all forms of killer drugs both expired and non- expired ones like antibiotics and pain relievers, which are consumed at the discretion of the quack doctors. This has, in most cases, been linked to frequent diseases like liver, kidney, heart and even drug resistant malaria.

 

Due to age long tradition inherent in some parts of the country, the natives are optimistic that herbal drugs are more potent than orthodox drugs, though consumed without prescription from qualified health personnel.

 

With the growing harsh economy and increasing cases of strikes especially at health institutions, there seems to be no end in sight to self medication.

 

Experts’ Reaction

A cross section of health practitioners that spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday attributed the rampant cases of self-medication to lack of adequate trained personnel and traditional belief system.

 

In an interview, the public relations officer of Association of Resident Doctors, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Dr Muyiwa Dolapo Komolafe, linked self-medication to constant advertorials aired in either the electronic media or published in the print media.

 

He also attributed the prevailing cases of self-medication to dearth of qualified health personnel and inaccessible health care services especially by residents in the remote villages.

 

Citing example of why people engage in self-medication, he said, “it is due to ancient traditional values, lack of personnel at local communities and inaccessible health care services.”

 

Link To Death

According to Dr Komolafe, self-medication had led to drug resistance as reflected in the need to frequently change anti-malaria drugs instead of chloroquine that was the first drug used for the treatment of malaria because it made the parasite resistant to chloroquine.

 

Another example is toxicity which in most cases leads to death. Other extreme cases include psychosis, maniac manifestations, gut perforations for peptic ulcer patients and even in normal persons too.

 

Komolafe, who is the immediate past PRO of FCT chapter of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), advised Nigerians to stop being naive to traditional myths and systems even as he advocated for the construction of health facilities that would easily be accessible to people living in rural areas.

 

While advocating for legislation to stop indiscriminate sale of drugs without doctor’s prescription, he further suggested that health personnel posted to local communities should be provided with enough drugs for the treatment of ailments.

 

Self-medication Is Deceptive

Another doctor at the National Hospital, Abuja, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described self-medication as deceptive and wicked, saying that the act was prevalent due to inaccessible health care system in Nigeria.

 

He said though Nigeria was still battling with its health care system, he blamed the federal government through the Ministry of Health for neglecting the health sector despite its key role in the country.

 

Linking self-medication to suicide mission, he added, “I’m worried that despite globalisation, a good number of Nigerians are still stuck in self-medication while many of them believe that herbal concoctions bought from herbalists and witch doctors are more potent than the drugs prescribed by qualified health personnel.

 

“To those categories of people, I’m telling them to wake up from their slumber because the risks associated with self medication outweigh the benefits, though some educated ones are still caught up in self medication.

 

Speaking on why self medication is rampant despite the awareness, he added, “Over 85% of the population are poor and can hardly afford two square meals not to talk of three. How can you advise such people to stop self medication when they can hardly eat?”

 

The doctor stated that one of the most grievous implications of self medication is death, adding that others include drug resistance, heart, kidney and liver diseases.

 

Call To Enact Law

While calling on the federal government to enact a law that would stop the indiscriminate sale of drugs in the open markets, he carpeted the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for neglecting their primary responsibility of monitoring the sale of adulterated and fake drugs.

 

He added, “I am not witch-hunting anybody but I want to state categorically that NAFDAC has failed woefully in stopping not only indiscriminate sale of drugs but harmful food in the open markets. Even the so called sachet water is nothing but killer water because many of them are produced under unsupervised and unhygienic conditions, yet they find their way in the open markets and nobody is arrested for producing such concoction.

 

“Until we rise up and face the challenges staring us in our faces, Nigeria may not make any headway in improving the health care system and people will continue to die from fake drugs, contaminated foods and unhealthy environment.”

 

He however appealed to stakeholders in the health sector to join forces with the federal government in addressing health-related issues even as he thanked foreign donors for their bail out in the health sector.

 

By Chika Okeke

Leadership