Most Filipinos self-medicate by using health information over the internet, a study has shown.
The latest PhilCare Wellness Index 2021 has shown that self-medication remained prevalent among Filipinos and only 7.4 percent of the study’s 1,500 respondents claimed they do not self-medicate.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines self-medication as the use of drugs “to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, or the intermittent or continued use of a prescribed drug for chronic or recurrent diseases or symptoms.”
This practice is dangerous as it can cause greater health risks among those who self-medicate, including the use of improper medicines to treat their illness and experts also warned of missed diagnosis, inappropriate treatment, or delay in proper treatment that may cause resistance to antibiotics and increased morbidity.
It was found that many Filipinos still rely on advertisements, previous medical prescriptions, and the opinions of their relatives, families, and friends as basis for their self-diagnosis and self-medication and open access to health information over the internet also adds to the confidence of Filipinos to self-medicate.
