As a child, I was told that drugs could only be bought at two places – hospitals or in a chemist shop. Later, as I became much older, I was made to understand the difference between a chemist, which is a patent medicine dealer and a pharmacist. The former is a mere trader with little or no knowledge of the composition of the drugs he sells. Most times, he learns his trade through apprenticeship with a vague knowledge of the efficacy of some drugs in certain ailments. But he is still very useful in first aid medications like treatment of headache, vomiting, fever, cough and other minor illnesses that the patients are advised to consult their doctors if symptoms persist or reoccur. These first aid medications save the time, stress and long protocols of hospitals. But then, the nature of the delivery might conceal or engender worse ailments.
The latter is a professionally-trained health personnel who understands the composition of drugs, their reactions when used on humans, and the associated side effects. A pharmacist understands that drugs could also be poisonous if abused or wrongly administered. Hence, he rarely dispenses drugs not prescribed by a physician, especially when they are not over-the-counter medicines such as Paracetamol, antacids, laxatives etc. By virtue of his training, he is also licensed to produce drugs.
Unfortunately, some patent medicine dealers do cross their boundaries at will, by prescribing drugs for patients; selling Prescription Only Medicines (POM), for instance hypertension drugs, sedatives, pain killers and by so doing assuming the positions of physicians and pharmacists put together, thereby causing untold harm to humans. Some patients consult them for medication, they carry out their poor prognosis on them and after which they mix-up different drugs, one for each complaint made by the patient, and this has actually promoted self-medication. Some have also converted their shops to semi-hospitals, maternities and abortion clinics.
However, the sins of some patent medicine dealers are not the only bane of the pharmaceutical industry because more problems are unveiled as one encounters the next category of people administering drugs in Nigeria. This category of medicine dealers carries out their trade from house to house, in the streets, in town service buses, in the market and in motor parks. They not only dispense drugs, but also prescribe it to people who never solicited for their services. One of the acts that make their sins so grave is that they not only encourage self-medication, but they also go as far as discouraging people openly from consulting their physicians for medical solutions. In Enugu, for instance, some of them are seen in town service buses. They usually start with prayers once the bus takes off, after that they introduce themselves and then go ahead to introduce their drugs one after the other to the commuters who never asked them for medical help.
It is in their habit to scare the public with some health conditions, saying that medical doctors have been found unable to treat the ailments. They present their drugs as the only remedy to such conditions, to the acceptance of some gullible and uninformed commuters. This drug hawking business is found prevalent in the northern part of the country where drugs are displayed like food items in the market and open places. And in Lagos, they even formed an unregistered union for themselves – Medicine Sellers Association in Nigeria.
Most of the people in this category of dealers are neo-literates, with some of them completing just their primary education. Whereas majority of the people that fall victim to these charlatans are members of the lower class, rural area dwellers and people who rarely visit the hospital for regular medical check-up.
Regrettably, many people have lost their lives to the services of these people. Many were made to believe that their health problems were benign and could be treated with drugs sold to them by these fellows. This sheer exhibition of deceit exacerbates the health conditions of such people even before they eventually get to the hospital for adequate health care delivery. They have also discouraged some others from consulting medical doctors on their health issues, with the argument that the drugs the hawkers sell are the only panacea to the problem, as they tag doctors clueless in the treatment of such sicknesses.
Drugs are meant to be stored in a cool dry place, most times at or below room temperature (20 – 25 degree celcius). But the practice of drug hawking exposes them to temperatures so many times above their storage temperatures, and this leads to the denaturing of the constituting chemicals in the drugs and thus, its consequent adulteration due to unfavorable temperature conditions. So there is no gainsaying that the practice still poses similar threats like fake drugs. Again, there is high tendency of them equally hawking fake drugs.
Therefore, it is high time this practice was stopped since it encourages self-medication, discourages medical diagnosis and check-up and exposes drugs to unfavourable storage conditions. There should be a well-targeted campaign and placement of adverts on the media to help sensitize the general public on the dangers of drug-hawking and self-medication. NAFDAC, NDLEA and other drug regulatory agencies should step up their fight in flushing every form of drug misadministration, handling and abuse out of the society. Since most of these hawkers market drugs for some registered drug companies, such companies should be cautioned and directed to use the modern means of advertisement in the media
Poverty and ignorance are popular among the reasons behind self-medication. Therefore, government should further subsidise health care and make it more available to the people of the lower class and rural dwellers. The public should also be seriously educated on the dangers of drug misadministration.
Drugs are delicate substances that save life, but if not properly handled and administered, are poisonous. The law regulating the sales and dispensing of drugs should be reviewed and strictly enforced to ensure that only pharmacists dispense prescription drugs. Patent medicine dealers should not be allowed to go against the law which allows them to sell only over-the-counter drugs.
However, drug-hawking should absolutely be prohibited owing to the reasons highlighted earlier. Their gospel and practice have sent many to their early graves. No matter the form it may be presented, the effect of this practice is just a close relation to the dangers of fake drugs.
Kingsley just finished from Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, UNN
