Covid-19: Self-medication Gaining Grounds

The very thought of contracting Covid-19 and the possibility of social ostracism are making people hit the panic button and so resorting to self-medication, relying on peer advice and borrowed prescriptions, despite doctors warning against the practice. A teacher at a private institute in Yaounde has admitted that he refrained from undergoing a Covid-19 test despite symptoms of the viral disease, and instead collected a prescription from a friend, a Covid-19 survivor, and bought medicines.

Others have recounted how their neighbours were ostracized by locals after they tested positive for the disease. Because they too do not want to go through the same scenario, they say if ever tested positive for Covid-19, they will just buy any available antibiotics and drink. “A friend, who is a Covid-19 survivor, shared his prescription with me, after I told him that I have lost my sense of smell and taste. I got the medicines from a local pharmacy, and hopefully I will be fine in a few days," a lady in her early 50s says.

A journalist testified to have been tested positive of Covid-19. While waiting for prescriptions from her company’s doctor to no avail, she decided to ask another colleague of what the doctor prescribed for him. Strange to note is the fact that both colleagues are of different genders and one is in his 50s while the other in her 30s. But, she was ready to share the prescription of her colleague against all odds. There are people who are carrying hydroxychloroquine pills in pockets, ready to drink when they suspect Covid-19.

Dr Erick Tandi of the Ministry of Public Health stresses on the fact that there is no drug for Covid-19 cure as yet, and individuals are b...