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WORLD HEPATITIS DAY 2016 with the theme KNOW HEPATITIS - ACT NOW! is a call for more awareness about the disease Hepatitis and particularly, for the correction of the misconceptions that patients have about the disease wherein they often mix it up with Arthritis or Hypertension and thus often risk misusing drugs (by self-medicating against wrong diagnosis using wrong drugs and thus harm in their liver the more). It is also a call for Healthcare providers to do more in ridding our society of Hepatitis through *proper blood screening prior to transfusion, *increased awareness of the public on the routes/Modes of transmission and prevention of Hepatitis, to mention but a few. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports these facts: - Over 400million people globally have Viral Hepatitis and millions are infected yearly. Viral Hepatitis is the most common type of Hepatitis - Over 95% of infected persons do not know they are infected. - 90% of people with Hepatitis C Viral infection can be ...

A medical practitioner and staff of Jos University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Steve Anyebe has warned against the abuse of cough syrups and some analgesics by youths and housewives in Kaduna State, citing dangerous health consequences and an increase in societal vices and insecurity. Dr. Anyebe listed Dextromethorphan and Promethazine-codine syrups, Tramadol, high dose Acetaminophen (Paracetamol), etc as some of the drugs being constantly abused. Thus these youths, mostly students and house wives often use these drugs for reasons other than those for which the drugs are indicated. He ex plained that these drugs when abused lead to high levels of a chemical DOPAMINE in the body. Abusing these drugs can lead to adverse effects such as nausea, vomitting, numbness, impaired motor function, extreme agitation, increased heart rate and blood pressure, body temperature and build up of acid in the body, he said . Dr. Anyebe called for the attention of parents, government and concerned authorities i...

[BASED ON A TRUE LIFE STORY] Engr. Smart was reported to have had a waist pain and headed straight to a nearby chemist to purchase a particular brand of a painkiller which contained DICLOFENAC and MISOPROSTOL.  It gave him the desired analgesic effect he wanted and he kept the remaining at home at a place out of reach of his little daughters. Some weeks later, his wife had a similar pain and opted for the same drug knowing how speedily her husband had felt relief when he used the drug. She had been feeling drowsy of late and so as was her usual routine during the course of the day, she put on the television and after some minutes, she was asleep. A few hours later, there was confusion; she was having cramps and after a while bleeding commenced. The Driver managed to rush her to the family Doctor who later confirmed that she had lost her pregnancy. Sadly enough, the couple had been trying for a baby since 6 years ago when their last and third daughter was born. When she was asked ab...

Pharmacist Odudu Akpaete  A Community Pharmacist, Odudu Akpaete practicing in Akwa Ibom State has lamented the abysmal attitude of some members of the society towards the HIV infection and their health. In an article sent in to Pharma-Guide Nigeria about his experiences with HIV clients as a Pharmacist, Pharm. Akpaete, a very vibrant and vocal Pharmacist and critic of the anomalies of government and of corrupt leaders in the Nigerian polity, expressed his fear that going by his observations from his days at General Hospital Aboh Mbaise to Community Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) programme hosted by Howard University Pace Centre in conjunction with FHI 360, ARF, SACA and the Ministry of Health, HIV may not be defeated even by the year 2070. He recounted one of his experiences during his NYSC days when he encountered a patient with a very low CD4 count (a measure of the level of a HIV patient’s immune system) of 50. The patient after receiving adequate counseling and subsequently star...