The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhi, on Wednesday, said that over 50 per cent of medicines were prescribed inappropriately by unauthorised persons.
Orhi, represented by Mrs Maureen Ebigbeyi, the Deputy Director, Narcotics and Controlled Substances, NAFDAC, said that at the opening of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos Chapter 2012 Physician Week.
The theme of the event is entitled:”Prescriptions of Medicine in Nigeria – Abuse and Implication for the Health of Nigerians.”
Orhi said that a lot of drugs prescribed were not basic to the health system and highlighted the factors contributing to the abuse of prescription to include ignorance, poverty, lack of knowledge and poor skills.
He called for more medical personnel who would to be willing to work in rural areas as a way forward to reduce inappropriate prescriptions.
According to him, capacity building through training professionals to improve skills and enforcement of laws, will also help in tackling the problem.
Also, Dr Atinuke Onayiga, the Director of Medical Services, Health Service Commission, who spoke on medical tourism, called for a formalised public-private partnership with local communities.
She said that would improve healthcare delivery and strengthen medical tourism in the country.
Onayiga said that the demand for medical treatment kept increasing, noting that the demand for good healthcare was the reason why people travelled abroad for it.
?”There are 23,640 registered health facilities in the country and 38 per cent are privately owned, providing 60 per cent of national healthcare.
?”There is enormous “brain drain” of healthcare professionals and high diaspora numbers due to lack of investment in maintaining high quality health delivery system.”
?Also speaking, a former Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr Leke Pitan, said that 80 per cent of Nigerians travelled abroad essentially for heart surgeries, renal transplant and knee replacement.
?Pitan urged the government to partner with the private sector in order to encourage more surgeries in the country's health institutions.
?He also urged medical practitioners in the country to use their expertise and intelligence to make an impact on the society.
?”This should be the new role of the NMA in making sure that the society feels the impact of the association's efforts into improving healthcare delivery.”
In his remarks, the Chairman, NMA Lagos chapter, Dr Francis Faduyile, said that the event was to sensitise the public on the need to always seek certified medical practitioners.
“It is wrong for somebody to take it upon himself to start prescribing drugs.
“Many people have drug resistance, deaths, prolonged illnesses, because they have the wrong prescriptions.”
Faduyile urged the government to enforce the Prescription Rights in order to control inappropriate prescriptions.?