Sola Ogundipe
24 December 2008
A primary health care physician and substance abuse rehabilitation expert wants the Federal Government to create an enabling environment that would encourage Nigerian inventors and researchers in their bid to contribute towards global developmental advancements.
Making the call in a chat with Vanguard, the physician - Dr. Ajibike Salako-Akande, who patented a revolutionary nutritional formulation called Conbamino reputed to have potential to emerge as cure for drug and substance abuse, is urging government not to always put the issue of money first.
Salako-Akande who's invention is currently undergoing further studies with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) of America said: "We are appealing to government, especially the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (NAFDAC) that when we come with inventions, the issue of money should not be paramount.
We are inventors, and government should not charge us too much."
After she graduated from the University of Lagos 30 years ago, she said she has been in the United States of America for more than 20 years, working on addiction and rehabilitation and the healthcare process including mental health.
She said, in America, the FDA - the equivalent of NAFDAC would not have charged her a cent because their government has created what is known as an individual drug owner. "They do not charge you but give you a pre-registration number with which you begin to work on your invention. We are appealing that NAFDAC should give such waiver and also create this kind of ownership."
In Nigeria, at least one in 10 people is affected by alcohol/drug addiction problems. The conventional method which is being used to treat substance abuse uses chemicals which are also addictive in its treatment such as valium and barbiturates, but this has not provided much success particularly in the area of relapse and harm reduction.
The scientist who created the cost effective formulation of dietary supplements protocol for alcohol/drug abuse relieve from withdrawal and reduction in craving, said she was worried to see that people use drugs meant for anaesthesia such as morphine, the opiates.
"People are strung on it and also get addicted to cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. So I decided to understand why people get addicted and cannot stop. For almost 10 years when I was in Baltimore, Maryland in the US, I decided to learn as a physician how to take care of this problem.
"While I was treating these mentally ill patients, I found out that the medication they had been using such as valium and barbiturates were not working and they had severe withdrawal symptoms.
So I decided to look for alternatives and for another seven years I was attending the national institute of health conferences on neuro-physiology and chemistry and other divisions and I was able to understand the problem of addiction and the brain and how people get addicted and how we can use the alternative methods to take cate of addiction.
"What I have done is to formulate dosage in three phases of treatment. I formulated for cocaine, and marijuana and also for alcohol and for opiates. In Nigeria we have discovered that what the addicts use is codeine, this is the opoid aspect and people drink it so copiously that it gives them the high.
She said what prompted her was that Nigeria has too much corruption problem and that if we add addiction, the country would be wiped out of relevance. "As a physician I am trained to provide comfort for patients.
When I see the way people react to addicts or cringe, it gave me the instance to contribute to humanity by providing comfort for them, and that is why I chose this. I also noticed physicians were not interested in this field and I felt if I did, I would be able to make a difference.
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