by Jimoh L. Adewade, Ph.D.
waleatoba11@gmail.com
Obaagun, Osun State.
The emergence of social media has transformed it from a simple networking tool into a global digital system. In Nigeria, from TikTok to WhatsApp, X [formerly Twitter] to the “Blue App”,(Facebook) information moves at the speed of light and connectivity feels seamless. But so does poison.
In the last five years, a disturbing new pattern has emerged across the digital space: unprofessional social media handlers, and sometimes even licensed practitioners, pay lip service to medical ethics as they diagnose, treat, and mislead innocent people through online consultations and advertisements. What began as “Dr. Google” has now evolved into “Dr. Ra
ndom Influencer,” and the consequences are spiraling out of control.
Every time you scroll through social media, especially Facebook and TikTok, you see livestreams or videos of handlers claiming that boiled pawpaw leaves mixed with ashes flush typhoid, or that a mix of ginger, garlic, turmeric, and hibiscus flowers cures hypertension in seven days. They look credible, speak confidently and authoritatively, yet in their minds they deceive themselves and their followers. Ironically, they often have more followers than trained doctors.
From Osogbo to Port Harcourt, Lagos to Kano, people are trying these dangerous concoctions and still believing them. Meanwhile, well-trained medical professionals watch in horror as patients arrive at hospital emergency units with failing kidneys, chemical burns in their throats, loss of blood, chronic hypertension, and advanced stages of treatable diseases.
Not only that, these untrained social media “medics” use a classic tactic: instilling fear. They mislead health seekers with claims like “Western medicine doesn’t work” or “hospitals worsen stroke treatment.” Then they sell miracle herbals for diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, heartburn, and hepatitis B — without any medical tests. Some even claim to diagnose cancer or H. pylori with a smartphone camera. In fact, by the time these people begin to mention one symptom or the other, you will almost fall for their tricks.
Worse still is the rise of remote, non-consensual diagnosis. On social media today, an unqualified content creator will claim that “cracks on the left side of your tongue” mean early heart failure, or that “a big stomach in females” means fibroid — all without medical history, tests, or physical examination. The goal is more followers and money, at the expense of others.
Take Biola [not her real name] in Abuja. After watching a viral video, she convinced herself she had a rare blood disorder. She spent her savings on herbal remedies recommended by an anonymous Telegram user. When she finally visited a real hospital, her actual condition was simple iron deficiency. This was worsened by unregulated herbs that suppressed her appetite, leading to severe anaemia that was medically manageable.
The grim consequences of digital quackery are not abstract. They are measured in hospital beds, dialysis sessions, and mortuary slabs:
Toxicity: Unregulated herbal concoctions often contain dangerous levels of heavy metals like lead and mercury, resulting in organ failure.
Drug resistance: Fake online consultations encourage patients to stop antibiotics mid-course without professional guidance, fueling the rise of drug-resistant “superbugs.”
Mental harm: Unprofessional diagnosis of terminal diseases causes severe anxiety and depression.
Avoidable deaths: Advice for diabetic patients to stop insulin, or for hypertensive patients to throw away prescribed medication in favor of herbs, has led to surges in mortality across the country.
Phytomedicine is not inherently bad, but unregulated social media handlers have eroded safe practices, leaving innocent people vulnerable to avoidable deaths. Only after proper laboratory tests can the right medication be prescribed. Government intervention is urgently needed to curb these unprofessional and unqualified social media medical and herbal consultations.
NAFDAC and the Federal Ministry of Health cannot remain spectators while innocent health seekers are misled in the name of online profit. Their efforts are noted, but more action is needed on the digital frontier, which remains largely unguarded.
We need:
Digital health policing: Government should establish a joint task force with the Nigeria Police Force and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to crack down on unlicensed individuals who issue medical diagnoses or cures on social media.
Accountability for platforms: The Federal Government should compel social media companies to remove health misinformation flagged by regulators like the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria [MDCN] within 24 hours, or face penalties. Offenders should also be published on regulators’ social media pages.
Public education: Government and NGOs should launch multilingual media campaigns on print, broadcast, and social media about the dangers of consulting unqualified online health handlers. The message must be simple: _“If it’s not from a verified doctor or a government health agency, do not swallow it, rub it on your skin, or stop your prescribed medication for it.”_
People must remember: your health and life are in your hands. Before you try an online “miracle tea” or prescription promoted by your favorite influencer, ask yourself:
Does this person have an MDCN license number?
Do they have a verified NAFDAC registration number?
Have I checked that NAFDAC number?
Have I been examined by a registered laboratory?
Do they have a physical, verifiable address?
If the answer to these questions is “No,” you are not a patient — you are a customer, and the product being sold is your gullibility.
In the end, trust your qualified doctor, the registered hospital, and science. The human body is not a laboratory for social media clout. When you play with health misinformation online, the house always wins. And the price is a coffin.
I pray that terminal disease finds no place in our lives, and for those managing health challenges, may you be healed. Stay informed, stay alive, log off, and see a real, qualified medical doctor — or a qualified, licensed phytomedicine practitioner if needed.
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