If you pop antibiotics like sweets or buy medicines from the roadside chemist without a prescription, NAFDAC says you're part of a growing public health crisis.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control issued this warning on Thursday at a sensitisation programme in Mushin, Lagos. The message was blunt: medicines save lives, but using them wrongly can kill.
Mrs Uchenna Elemuwa, NAFDAC's Director of Pharmacovigilance, represented Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye at the event. She listed the main problems: self-medication, antibiotic abuse, incorrect dosing, and the use of counterfeit drugs. These practices, she said, lead to treatment failure, adverse drug reactions, prolonged illness, higher healthcare costs, disability, and preventable deaths.
One of the biggest dangers is antimicrobial resistance. Elemuwa described it as one of the most serious consequences of misusing and overusing antibiotics. Infections that were once easy to treat are now becoming harder and more expensive to manage because drug-resistant germs are emerging.
"No medicine is completely free from side effects. However, through effective pharmacovigilance systems, harmful reactions can be identified early and necessary actions taken to protect the public," Elemuwa said.
Pharmacovigilance is the process of detecting, assessing, understanding, and preventing adverse effects from medicines. Elemuwa urged healthcare professionals and the public to report any bad reactions to drugs. A single report, she noted, could help save lives.
"Patient safety begins with the rational use of medicines. Medicines are meant to heal, not harm," she added.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of Mushin Local Government, Mr Tunbosun Aruwe, said the programme was designed to promote medication safety and improve public awareness. He commended NAFDAC for its efforts and pledged continued support for healthcare programmes in the area. He urged participants to share what they learned with others in their communities.
NAFDAC has been pushing for safer medicine use for years. The agency runs a pharmacovigilance centre that collects reports of adverse drug reactions from hospitals, pharmacies, and individuals. But many Nigerians still don't report problems, either because they don't know how or because they think it won't make a difference.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than half of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed, or sold inappropriately worldwide. In Nigeria, where access to doctors is limited and fake drugs are common, the problem is even worse.
For the average Nigerian, the takeaway is simple: stop self-medicating, finish your doses as prescribed, and never share antibiotics. If a drug makes you sick instead of better, report it to NAFDAC. It might just save the next person's life.