Malaria disease is considered a global epidemic owing to the worrisome statistics in its mortality rate. In Nigeria, one of the efforts designed to combat this was enlisting malaria medication as an over-the-counter medication to make it accessible to all and sundry. To check the abuse of the medication, adverts for malaria medication often carry a caveat that require that the user consults a doctor should the symptoms persist after three days. This study evaluated the extent to which the audience are aware of and adhere to this caveat. Employing the potentialities of the survey design, it collected data from 500 residents of North Central Nigeria who constituted the population of the study. Premised on the Theory of Reasoned Action, the study found out among others that the first response to malaria symptoms amongst 82% of the respondents, is self-medication. Also, despite the respondents' high exposure to the caveat (91%), there is an abysmally low adherence as only 16% of the respondents attested to a regular compliance. The study thus concluded that while direct to consumer advert for malaria medication may be important for the audience as well as pharmaceutical companies, it inadvertently serves the dysfunctional purpose of promoting unsafe self-medication. The study recommended that advertisers should modify the caveat to emphasize on the severity of non-adherence; possibly similar to that used by tobacco companies which states that' smokers are liable to die young'.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.