About the question asked, do people understand the health and socioe-conomic damage caused by opioids? the answer to the question would be multifaceted, as I earlier mentioned [*] about the use of COLOS among the youths in major hotspots in Lagos, Nigeria, there have been previous opioids or other hard-drug epidemic before referred to as "Gbana" Cocaine or Morphine, the addicts were referred to as "Area Boys" before the new 'COLOS', however, there was noticeable attempts made by the Lagos State Government on interventions, such as the care and the rehabilitation center at Majindun, Kosofe or Ikorodu LGA, Lagos State. How up to date now, I can't say.
On a recent visit to Lagos and the observations made and questions asked about the high incidence use of 'COLOS' amongst the youths, I gathered that most of the youths are migrant workers from hinter-lands, working on new development sites along Lekki-Epe Expressway new development sites, I was told that the out-of-school youth workers uses the combination drugs 'COLOS' to numb pain, and to be able to have energy in order to works hard for the day to be able to be qualified for the daily wage, and are not aware of the side effects.
To answer the question, the addiction or the epidemic issue should be addressed scientifically, through comprehensive research involving all stakeholders, the Political Leaders, Policy Makers, Health Systems, Education Systems, Primary Stakeholders, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Community Leaders, Customs Agency, Media/ Communication Systems.
The research findings would inform the necessary actions/intervention to take by the current and successive governments.
There should be systems in place from the Primary Health Care (PHC) Secondary and the Tertiary Health Systems to integrate drug education, abuse, treatment, care and rehabilitation including a good and functioning social welfare system.
Regards
Remi Akinmade
MCommH
HIFA profile: Remi Akinmade is Executive Director of Community Health Information Education Forum (CHIEF), Nigeria. Professional interests: Community Health, Primary Health Care, Maternal Neonatal Child Health (MNCH), Adolescent/Youth Health, STI/HIV/AIDS, Breast/Cervical Cancer, Advocacy, Rights of women, children, Capacity Building - training, empowerment programs, Male involvement. remi.akinmade AT chiefngo.org
[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Thank you Remi for your valuable contributions describing the situation in Nigeria. All: you can review Remi's previous message here: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/opioid-drugs-24-do-people-understand-he... ]