Self-medication : How people give themselves over to deathHow death

Many Cameroonians, when faced with illness, resort to medicines without prescription, at great risk to their health.

Divine KANANYET

Headaches and sore throats, fever, coughs, colds, body or digestive
pains and many other illnesses often lead people to self-medicate. Whatever the nature of the ailment, treating everyday ailments with medicines
without prescription or consultation has become a reflex for Cameroonians. “I have a small medicine box at home. Inside, I have paracetamol, quinine, Efferalgan and children’s syrups for headaches and toothaches among others. I also have alcohol,
cotton wool and plasters. It helps me a lot when the child starts to get hot or when I don’t feel well myself,” says Nathalie Ambassa, who she met in the streets of Yaoundé.
A recurrent or regular practice for some people who do not see the need to consult a doctor
for “a simple backache, a migraine or stomach ache”. “It is not worth spending money in hospital for so little. Especially since not everyone has access to hospital medical care due to lack of money. I often have my tablets here, as soon as an illness starts, I anticipate once. As soon as it’s over, I go to my friend, a nurse, who often helps me,” says Steve Nana, a student. This opinion
is shared by other people who lack the means to go to a hospital. “We have a good drug seller in our neighbourhood. Before buying his medicine, he asks us where it hurts and sells us medicines according to the pain. And I don’t have to pay for the consultation, nor do I have to wait for hours like in the hospital,”
explains Ismaël Abali.
A silent killer
Self-medication is a practice that consists of taking care of oneself in case of any health problem. However, according to specialists,
this practice, which is popular
among many Cameroonians because of poverty, is a health hazard. Self-medication can lead to severe complications and in the worst cases to death, due in particular to ignorance of the components of the medicine, the expiry date, dosage errors and ignorance of the side effects. Although statistics on self-medication
are not really available, the presence of street medicines is a direct consequence of this practice.
“Self-medication is a common practice. But the figures themselves
are not available. In order to have the figures, there must have been studies on it. The practice is nevertheless very common because the drug is not in its usual legal circuit. The drug is everywhere in the street, that’s why the phenomenon of self-medication
is quite common,” says Dr. Claude Akono, adding that the normal circuit of the patient is to go through a doctor who makes his diagnosis and prescribes
the drug to be bought in a pharmacy. This practice, which is on the increase, is dangerous for the population. We still remember
the Naturcold syrup bought in the street and which caused the death of 09 children between March and April in the North-West and South-West. More deaths, to continue sensitizing
the population on the evils of self-medication.