The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has come out to say that the present drug situation in Nigeria is a public health crisis.
Dr. Osagie revealed this during the 2-day 22nd Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria (SOFON) in Abuja on Friday.
Ehanire said the 2018 National Drug Use Survey reveals an estimate of 14.3 million people between 15 years and 64 years abusing drugs.
He added that there is more to addiction than just cocaine and heroin.
His words, “This signifies a marked increase of about 8.8 per cent compared to results from a prior survey conducted in 2016 and more than twice the global average.
“It is apparent that the current drug situation in Nigeria is a public health crisis of unprecedented proportions.”
“As frontline providers of person-centered healthcare, it is within the domains of practice of Family Physicians to identify and provide early diagnosis, treatment and referral services for drug abuse and mental health disorders where appropriate.”
“It is not only illegal drugs like cocaine or heroin that can lead to abuse and addiction.
“Prescription drugs like pain killers, sleeping pills and tranquilisers can cause similar problems.”
Do you agree?
Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire (born November 4, 1946) is a Nigerian medical doctor and politician. He was appointed as the Minister of State for Health in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in November 2015. Following the submission of the ministerial nominees to the Senate by the Presidency in July 2019 and subsequent screening, He was appointed as the Minister of Health in August 2019.
Osagie Ehanire was born on November 4, 1946 in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.
After his primary education, he attended Government College Ibadan in Oyo state for his West African School Certificate and he excelled at his Higher School Certificate examination there. He later studied Medicine at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany qualifying as a physician. He went on to the Teaching Hospital of the University of Duisburg and Essen and to the BG Accident Hospital in Duisburg, Germany for his post graduate education. In 1976, he attended the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland where he obtained postgraduate Diploma in Anaesthetics. He got his Board Certification in both General Surgery and Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery at the Medical Board of North Rhine Westphalia in Duesseldorf, Germany. In 1984, he became a Fellow of West African College of Surgeons.
He was appointed as a delegate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to the political merger conference that gave birth to the All Progressive Congress (APC). As the Edo State Coordinator for the Buhari Campaign Organization, he was a key player in ensuring the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2015 presidential election held in the state. In October 2015, he made the list of ministerial nominees to serve the Buhari led administration. After being screened and cleared by the National Assembly, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Health in November 2015. Following the beginning of a new administration in May 2019 and the submission of the ministerial nominees to the Senate by the Presidency in July 2019 and subsequent screening, He was appointed the Minister of Health in August 2019.
He is married with children. He has 5 children.
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