Interventions to reduce self-medication: what have we learned?

Creating awareness on the vast spread of self-medication practice among people in Nigeria and its effects on the Health care system is an important aspect of public health. This paper is written to review self-medication practice in Nigeria, and how self-medication campaign can be an effective strategy for reducing this practice. Furthermore, it will provide strategies that will help to conduct future programmes with various approaches. Interventions using interview for a focus group, running campaign in open places like market square, creating awareness through media such as Television, Radio, Newspaper, Social networks as well as hospitals and community settings, have been highlighted. The information presented has been withdrawn from the existing policies, systematic reviews, and new convincing policies that will drastically reduce the practice and improve the health outcomes. The evidence based however, does not contain the individual approach due to the fact that Public Health focuses on population rather than individual. Based on this paper, self-medication has a negative impact on the quality of health of individuals due to lack of consultation by the clinicians. It is therefore required to give attention to this practice.