INTRODUCTION

Unorthodox or Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects
of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence
from clinical trials. Herbal medicine, according to National Herbalists Association of Australia,
is the oldest and still the most widely used system of medicine in the world today. It is the use of
plants (herbs) to treat disease and enhance wellbeing. Herbal medicine can be modified based on
culture, tribe, social and religious values to meet the health need of people

Historically, the use of plants as medicines dates as far back as the origin of humankind. Right
from the onset, people had utilised plants, primarily, for nourishment. By trial and error people
discovered that some plants are good for food, while some are poisonous, and that some produce
bodily changes such as increased perspiration, bowel movement, urination, relief of pain,
hallucination, and healing.

Over the past few decades, the development and mass production of chemically synthesized
drugs have revolutionized health care in most parts of the world. Notwithstanding, large portions
of the population in developing countries still rely on traditional practitioners and herbal
medicines for their primary healthcare. In Africa up to 90% of the population depend on
traditional medicine to help meet their health care needs.

WHY DO PEOPLE PATRONIZE UNORTHODOX MEDICINES

Public dissatisfaction with the cost of prescription medications, combined with an interest in
returning to ‘natural’, ‘green’ or ‘organic’ remedies, has led to an increase in herbal

medicines use .Unfortunately, the number of reports of people experiencing adverse effects
caused by herbal drugs is also increasing. Counterfeit, poor quality or adulterated herbal products
in the markets are serious patient safety threats . Despite the invaluable contribution of

herbal therapy in healthcare, there have been many controversies with regulation, safety, and
standardisation. At one end of the divide, some herbalists maintain that traditional remedies have
a long history of use and are completely safe and as such do not require the same level of

safety testing as orthodox medications. On the other hand are opinions in favour of legally
enforced quality standards, safety testing, and prescription by qualified practitioners. There are
not many countries with national policies for traditional medicine.

Although, various reasons why people prefer herbal therapy to western established drugs may
vary from country to country, the most common reasons for using traditional medicine across the
world are that; it is more affordable, more closely corresponds to the patient’s ideology, allays
concerns about the adverse effects of chemical (synthetic) medicines, satisfies a desire for more
personalized health care, and allows greater public access to health information.[4] The major
use of herbal medicines is for health promotion and therapy for chronic, as opposed to life-
threatening, conditions. However, usage of traditional remedies increases when conventional
medicine is ineffective in the treatment of disease, such as in advanced cancer and in the face of
new infectious diseases.

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Safety of some herbal ingredients have been recently called into question, in part because of the
identification of adverse events associated with their use and, increasingly, because of the
demonstration of clinically relevant interactions between herbs and prescription drugs.
Furthermore, traditional medicines are widely perceived as natural and safe, that is, not toxic.
This is not necessarily true, especially when the in-take of herbs with prescription drugs, over-
the-counter medications, or other herbs, is very common.

UNORTHODOX MEDICINES ADVERTS AND THE MEDIA

In our contemporary society, advertisement of herbal medicine takes several dimensions. Some
traditional practitioners mount public address systems in the marketplaces to announce the
efficacy of their products, others employ buses and vehicles to announce and distribute their all-
powerful drugs to the teeming public. It is very common to encounter advertisers of traditional
herbal therapies in public vehicles moving from one major town to another in Nigeria. The most
popular is the utilization of the radio and television for wider coverage.

As documented in the Traditional Medicine Policy and Regulatory Framework (2006), there are
currently 107 registered herbal medicines in Nigeria, but none is listed on the essential drugs list.
However, there seems to be aggressive promotion and advertisement of herbal medicines.

ADVERTS BREACHING ADVERTISING CODES

PUFFERY AND FAKE CLAIMS IN UNORTHODOX MEDICINES ADVERT

Print

The alternative medical therapists now pay for extensive air time on government radio and
television to announce their herbal drugs which they say could cure any disease ever known to
mankind.

The renewal of interest on herbal medicine by residents of urban communities in Nigeria has
been attributed to the pronouncements on radio and TV by AM-Therapist who claim that their
‘wares’ can cure all diseases ever known to mankind. It is now common to see many urban
dwellers trooping into stadia and trade fair centres of our state capitals to visit alternative
medical therapists' stands to consult and buy these herbal medicines. Herbal medicines are still
commonly sold by practitioners and their agents virtually without adequate restriction and
regulation. In fact, a great deal of informality still exists. In other words, the traditional herbal
medical practitioners follow very informal and highly varied protocols in advertising and
distributing their products. These poses a grave danger to the health of members of the public.

In the below samples and adverts of Jigsimur plus and sule alagunmu, the unorthodox medicines
claim to proffer solutions to a wide range of diseases, including HIV/AIDS and cancer.

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Radio

The audio attached to this presentation includes a radio advert on Tungba where a woman and a
man engage in a conversation about their experience using a product called “Global new herbal
life” which mentioned how it helped to provide cure for certain illnesses and at the same
increases libido and prevent and arrest hair loss

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The second audio was an advert of a product called “Pelorie” which increases libido and sexual
capability in men. Another product called “Turaka” for both genders for certain illnesses. It also
stated that people should come to him for diagnosis.

CODE RELATING TO PUFFERY AND FALSE CLAIM IN MEDICINE

Article 52

(h) Advertisements for medicine shall not purport to increase sexual libido or correct sexual
weakness.

Article 53

(a)Advertisement for herbal/altemative medicine is not prohibited and is subject to the aforesaid
rules on advertisement of medicine; however advertisement for herbal/ alternative medicine must
state that the claims of health benefits have not been clinically verified (except where it has
indeed been verified).

(d) Consumers shall not be encouraged to use products in excess and Advertisers shall hold
proof before suggesting their products or therapies are guaranteed to work, absolutely safe or
without side-effects ;

(e) Advertising communications shall not suggest that any product is safe or effective merely
because it is 'natural' or that it is generally safer because it omits an ingredient in common use ;

Article 66

(b) Advertisements shall not offer to cure cancer, Al DS or any other ailment of such category,
unless the cure has been authenticated by the body regulating such sector of medical practice in
Nigeria ;

Article 62 : Diagnosis, Prescription, or Treatment

Advertisements shall not contain any offer to diagnose, advice, or prescribe treatment for any
disease, complaint, condition, or symptom which requires the attention of a medical doctor.

Article 57 : Hair and scalp

Advertisers shall be able to provide scientific evidence, where appropriate in the form of trials
conducted on people for any claim that their product or therapy can prevent baldness or slow it
down, arrest or reverse hair loss, stimulate or improve hair growth, nourish hair roots, strengthen
the hair or improve its health as distinct from its appearance.

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COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION

Print Adverts

The above adverts specify that the product proffer a cure to HIV/AIDS and cancer which have
been known to medically have no cure. This however goes against Article 66(b) which states
cures to such diseases should not be advertised unless proven by NAFDAC.

The advert by Jigsimurplus also claims to provide solution to weak erection and sexual
weakness, also breaching the advertising code of Article 52(e) stating no product should claim to
increase sexual libido or correct sexual weakness.

The symptoms can only be mitigated. Its quite interesting that in one of Jigsimur plus adverts, it
states the NAFDAC number of its product, an advert which is a direct breach of National
Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) regulations on unorthodox
medicines. The APCON advertising code on medicines is excerpted from Decree No. 15 of 1993
on NAFDAC regulations. It is contained in article 53 of the advertising codes and states

“ The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Decree No.
15 of 1993 as amended and its regulations, govern the promotion of medicines and the
conditions of ill health that they can be offered to treat,

offered to treat; Medicines shall have a NAFDAC registration number from the NAFDAC before
they are advertised and any claims made for products shall conform with the authorisation.
Medicinal claims shall not be made for unauthorised products”

The above products claims to have solutions to illness that have not been scientifically proven,
one wonders how the product has a NAFDAC number, can we say the product uses a fake
NAFDAC number, because it must have been presented for approval to NAFDAC to confirm it
actually provides cure to the above illnesses before receiving a NAFDAC number. It simply
proves that there is no regulation when it comes to unorthodox adverts and their claims.

Also, the code states no advert should claim its product has no side effect unless medically
proven, however research has shown that most of these herbal products have side effects. The
use of the word “Natural” in Jigsimur’s advert to justify its safety is against Article 52(e) of the
advertising codes which states such words should not be used to make a product appear ‘safe’ for
consumption.

Overall, the code also gave a way out to these products by stating that all alternative medicine
adverts should be stated as not being clinically proven, except where it has been clinically
verified, none of the above products did that.

Radio Adverts

The radio adverts were guilty of the above offences as well, they made mention of claims which
were not proven and also mentioned the ability of the product to increase libido of men, going
against the Article 52(h) of the advertising codes about products advertisements making claims
on increasing libido and correcting sexual weakness.

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The lady in the advert on ‘global new herbal life mentioned the advert helping her to avoid hair-
loss which also goes against article 57 about making claims about hair and scalp treatment
without adequate proof.

NAFDAC and APCON should strive hard in ensuring that both online and broadcast adverts of
unorthodox medicines are scrutinized before approval and also defaulters should be sanctioned
as a deterrent to others.

USE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND CELEBRITIES TO ENDORSE

UNORTHODOX MEDICINES

In the advert by Yoyo bitters, medical practioners were seen to give details about the function of
Yoyo bitters and its contribution to general health. The advert extensively discussed the various
health benefits of using Yoyo bitters and its natural ingredients promoting wellness. This advert
aired on stations like Lagos Television and MITV in the early 2000s

Asiwaju herbal mixture also used various celebrities to endorse their products talking about the
content of the product and how people would benefit from it. One of them was Kunle Afod

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RELATED ADVERTISING CODES

Article 53

(h)Advertisers shall not use health professionals or celebrities to endorse medicines;

COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION

From the above adverts, we can see that the use of celebrity and health professionals
endorsement which goes against the advertising code, under article which bans the use of
medical or health professionals to endorse medical products. The implication was that the
product gives some sort of false trust or confidence to the viewers who believe the products have
passed through medical and professional scrutiny and is being used in orthodox medicine
practice.

This also proves that the agency has a lot to do in ensuring the content of adverts conforms to
previous codes and laws. The Yoyo bitters advert aired severally and APCON did nothing to
sanction or take the adverts down. Its time APCON started taking its role as a regulatory body
seriously.

USE OF SKITS AND INSTAGRAM COMEDIANS AS ADVERT MEDIUM

Mc remote advert on ‘Asiwaju Herbal Mixture’

In this advert, a comedian walks up to a neighbor’s window and talks to him about having a
prophetic vision of his ‘sex life’. The neighbor eventually gives birth to several children,
eventually impregnating even the pastor’s wife.

Sydney Talker Advert On ‘Minnie’s Herbs’

In this advert, the comedian Sydney Talker is sitting in a car with his girlfriend. She sexually
teases him and asks him to meet her inside. Unknown to him, her family was inside and she
wanted to introduce him to them but he had taken ‘Minnie’s Herbs” anticipating sexual advances

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between them. Eventually she sits on his leg and his manhood is aroused and she gets pregnant
instantly.

RELATED ADVERTISING CODES

Article 4 : Sexuality

Advertisements shall not exploit, depict, or suggest sexual behaviour either in obvious or implied
context.

Article 14 : Religion

Advertisements shall not disparage or exploit religious belief, mislead people, or employ
miracles as a bait to elicit patronage. Advertisements promoting a particular faith or belief shall
not offend the right of people to hold contrary belief or conviction.

COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION

In the Asiwaju advert by MC remote, the comedian posed as a man of God and claimed to have
seen a prophetic vision into the ‘sex life’ of his neighbor, claiming he has a very poor libido.
This simple conversation ridicules the Christian religion, as it was distasteful for a supposed
‘Man of God’ to make such statements. This goes Article 14 of general product advertising code
of APCON about exploiting religious belief or offending people who practice a particular
religion. The advert also involved the comedian describing sexual activity verbally which many
would deem offensive.

In the second advert by Sydney talker, the code which goes against obscenity and exaggeration
was breached. The portray and visualization of the comedian’s manhood is offensive and should
not have been employed in the advert of a medicinal product. The advert is however, offensive
and the contents should not have been painted in such a sensual and sexual manner.

APCON has failed to sanction these manufacturers and sellers of these alternative medicines and
this has led to more adverts like these finding their way to various media

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