By Chioma Obinna
The Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. David Adewale Oke has revealed that some surgeons and other medical professionals involved in patient surgery have a tendency to become addicted to narcotic drugs used as post-operative painkillers.
The revelation came as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has pledged to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs for medical and scientific purposes in the country.
Oke who spoke at the launch of the International Narcotics Control Board, INCB annual report availability supplement and precursor report 2023 by NAFDAC in Lagos, said not only members of the public indulge in abuse of medical narcotics.
A press release from NAFDAC stated that Oke, who was represented by a professor of psychiatry at the College of Medicine, Prof. Olatunji Aina, expressed further regret over the fact that medical professionals who use these drugs while in hospital care often develop drug addictions from the substances they administer to their patients.
‘’Even amongst our colleagues in health practice, especially those that work in the theatre, including professionals that are directly in charge of these drugs, some of them, over time, tend to be addicted to the drugs.’’
He described it as a big public health problem that only a collaboration between NAFDAC and NDLEA could nip in the bud.
Oke explained that some medical conditions, like sickle cell disease crisis, orthopaedic cases, particularly fracture cases and the management of cancer, would warrant giving some of these narcotics to the patients to relieve them of severe pain.
He added that severe pain is one of the symptoms in most cases of cancer when the tumour is exerting pressure on a certain part of the body, adding that in post-surgery, quite a number of these drugs are used in the management of pain after surgery.
Oke said the dilemma of the physician is when the patient now becomes addicted, stressing that it is very important to know at what point a patient no longer requires analgesics and has become addicted.
He said that in some cases, sometimes when you think the clinical situation has improved and would not warrant the demand for analgesics, such patients still demand the drugs.
‘’I’m very happy about the control of these medicines by NAFDAC because it’s one of the commonest problems we have in psychiatry, particularly patients that are addicted to the controlled medicines and injections,’’ he said.
Speaking, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye vowed to end the diversion of narcotics meant for medical and scientific purposes.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Adeyeye admitted that narcotics and psychotropic substances are indispensable in the management of pain and other medical conditions.
She noted that, due to the addictive potential of many of them, there is a need to balance the access to and control of these substances.
She said the INCB reports the world drug situation annually to inform governments of countries that are party to the International Conventions on drug control efforts.
According to her, the annual report for the year 2023 has a special focus on the role of the Internet, including social media, in drug trafficking and use. It explores the challenges and opportunities for drug control, prevention, and treatment in the era of the Internet, with a specific look at the evolving landscape of online drug trafficking.
Represented by the Director, of Laboratory Services (Food), Dr Charles Nwachukwu, stressed that Competent National Authorities must scale up their activities, and monitor online advertisements and sales of controlled substances to stay ahead of traffickers.
She said NAFDAC has already put some measures in place to ensure availability and prevent the diversion of controlled medicines to illegal use.
She listed some of the measures to include; E -permit issuance to import controlled substances since 2017, Export Notification (PEN) Online System, monitoring the integrity of the distribution chain, National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP), National Pharmaceutical Traceability among others.