IT is alarming that half a million people die annually in the country because of medication errors. Self-medication means taking medicines without a doctor’s prescription. The practice is quite common in our society. Whenever one suffers a little pain etc, he takes tablets or syrup on his own without consulting a physician.

Wrong medicines or their overdose leave adverse effects on human beings and put their lives in grave danger.

According to a report, about 500,000 people, including women and children, die annually in Pakistan because of self-medication while about 80,000 people die in the US annually because of the same problem. Pakistan needs to address all its problems at once.

Chakar Shahdad

Turbat

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2017