Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #103239

Ngozi Ogbuawa, M Sc, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Drive. S. W., Atlanta, GA 30310, 202 577 1095, nogbuawa@hotmail.com

The abuse of western pharmaceuticals is a huge problem that exists globally. This has led to another problem which is the problem of anti-microbial resistance. Anti-microbial resistance occurs when a particular microbe becomes immune to the effects of drugs used to fight against it. The aim of this study was to explore the use of western pharmaceuticals, i.e. antibiotics, in two villages in Eastern Nigeria, as well as to ascertain whether there were any belief systems that existed which contributed to pharmaceuticals being abused. Approximately 70 interviews were conducted with physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and consumers. In addition, questionnaires were also distributed which contained questions about pharmaceutical use, belief systems, disease origin, and disease categories. In conclusion, it was discovered that an aspiration for things of the west contributed to the abuse of western pharmaceuticals in this particular context, however, that is merely a part of a complex web of causation that surrounds this phenomenon. The public health implications of this study are many and can be felt worldwide. A strict enforcement of the regulations laid down by the Essential Drugs Program will be necessary to subvert a potential public health crisis in the near future.

Learning Objectives:

•
• understand the public health implications of abuse of pharmaceuticals globally. •
• list 3 factors contributing to the abuse of pharmaceuticals in an Eastern Nigerian context •
• identify the relationship between anti-microbial resistance and re-emerging diseases (i.e. tuberculosis and malaria) • 4. identify the relationship beween anti-microbial resistance and HIV/AIDS

Keywords: Culture, Public Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.