By Haruna Gimba
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised alarm over the circulation of fake Coartem tablets in the country.
Coartem is one of the leading and common brands in anti-malaria drugs in Nigeria. The agency’s Director, Special Duties, Abubakar Jimoh, in a statement, on Wednesday, expressed regrets over the ugly incident.
He urged health care providers and other members of the public to be on the alert for such dangerous products.
Jimoh explained that the manufacturer of the fake Coartem tablet is written as NOVRTS instead of Novartis.
“The members of the public, especially health care providers, are implored to be vigilant and report distribution and sale of fake Coartem tablets to the nearest NAFDAC office for regulatory action,” he stated.
Meanwhile, in what can only be described as a sign of the times, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised a new kind of mental health condition.
It is a familiar ailment, though some of us may be slow to call it a medical condition, an online news agency, Digital Trends reported on Wednesday.
It is called gaming disorder, and it is characterised by “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour,” or more simply, an addiction to gaming.
In the beta draft of the WHO’s upcoming 11th update of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), due out in 2018, gaming disorder is now included as an affliction.
Folks who suffer from the disorder are said to have “impaired control over gaming,” which is to say an inability to control the frequency, intensity, duration, and context of their habits.
WHO also notes that those who prioritise video games over “other life interests and daily activities” and continue to escalate the amount that they play “despite the occurrence of negative consequences” are also showing symptoms of the newly classified disorder.
“The behaviour pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning,” the draft reads.
“The gaming behaviour and other features are normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe.”
The appearance of gaming disorder in the ICD-11 may have broader implications than we think.
