NAFDAC has a message for Nigerians who pop pills without a prescription, share antibiotics with family, or stop taking their drugs halfway: You're putting your life — and everyone else's — at risk.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control issued the warning at a community sensitisation programme in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State on Wednesday. The event was organised with the Immunisation Plus and Malaria by Accelerating Coverage and Transmission (IMPACT) project.
NAFDAC Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by Uchenna Elemuwa (Director of Pharmacovigilance), said the rational use of medicines is a fundamental pillar of effective healthcare. She defined rational use as taking the right medication for your clinical needs, in the correct dose, for the right duration, and at the lowest possible cost to you and your community.
“Self-medication, misuse of antibiotics, polypharmacy, incorrect dosing, failure to adhere to prescribed treatments, use of counterfeit medicines and sharing medicines among family members pose dangers to public health,” Adeyeye said.
She warned that these practices lead to treatment failure, adverse drug reactions, prolonged illness, and preventable deaths.
Adeyeye also highlighted the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which she called one of the greatest threats to global health. AMR happens when bacteria, viruses, and fungi stop responding to the drugs designed to kill them. The main driver? Misuse and overuse of antibiotics.
The solution, she said, is pharmacovigilance — the science of detecting, assessing, understanding, and preventing adverse effects from medicines. No drug is completely safe. Every medicine can cause side effects. The goal is to catch harmful reactions early and act on them.
“A single adverse drug reaction report can save thousands of lives,” Adeyeye said.
NAFDAC has been strengthening its post-marketing surveillance, safety monitoring, adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting, and risk communication systems. But the agency can't do it alone. It needs healthcare workers and ordinary Nigerians to report when a drug causes an unexpected reaction.
Professor Adekunle Oreagba, a pharmacology expert from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and the South-West Coordinator of ADR in Nigeria, explained what an adverse drug reaction is: a harmful effect that occurs after taking a medicine correctly, exactly as prescribed. It isn't a mistake by the patient or doctor — it's an unwanted effect of the drug itself.
He noted that many Nigerians experience unusual symptoms after taking medication but never report them. That silence makes it impossible for health authorities to know how common or dangerous a drug's side effects are.
“If adverse drug reactions aren't reported, health authorities can't accurately determine their frequency or impact within the community,” Oreagba said.
He identified polypharmacy — taking multiple medications at the same time — as a major risk factor for ADRs. Children and older adults are especially vulnerable because their bodies process drugs differently. People with kidney or liver problems are also at higher risk.
“Reporting adverse drug reactions is essential for protecting public health.”
The takeaway: Don't self-medicate. Don't share your drugs. Finish your prescribed dose. And if a medicine makes you feel worse or causes something new, tell your doctor or pharmacist. That report could be the one that saves the next person.