Nurses are Moving Forward to Addressing the Problematic Substance Use in Nigeria.

Substance Use Disorders (SUD) are strongly associated with the development and worsening of behavioral and metabolic health conditions. The behavioral conditions include schizophrenia, depression, and suicidal ideation, while the metabolic conditions consist of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of the global burden of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. Therefore, the integration of evidence-based disease prevention and treatment is crucial in improving the health outcomes of individuals dealing with problematic substance use.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global statistics report on alcohol and health and treatment of SUD, Nigeria lacks effective and efficient programs on psychosocial and metabolic interventions to reduce complications of SUD (WHO, 2024, pp. 270-271). Nurses are stepping up their initiative-taking approach to mitigate the effects of lost productivity, marginalization, stigmatization, and deaths attributed to ineffective and inefficient SUD care. For instance, preventing the cardiometabolic impact of SUD in drug recovery treatment is paramount, as cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart attack, are the top causes of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria and across the globe (Ogah et al., 2023; Niu et al., 2025). Thus, the need for integrated psychological (e.g., behavioral management) and cardiac-metabolic healthcare for SUD is a crucial takeaway goal for our nursing colleagues to focus on this year.

Our campaign, which started last week with a presentation by Dr. Oluremi Adejumo in partnership between Sigma International and the International Nursing Society on Addictions (IntNSA-Nigeria), is making a significant impact. We have nurses from different communities, and four states participated: Ilishan (Ogun State), Ilorin (Kwara State), Yaba (Lagos State), and Calabar (Cross-River State). These nurses stepped out to campaign and raise awareness about the consequences of tobacco-, alcohol-, opioid-, and drug-use disorders. This landmark activity, which was both empowering and motivating, enabled us to educate others through various mechanisms, including word-of-mouth, campaign activities featuring drummers and nurses dancing, and using another indigenous language to capture the attention of non-English-speaking Nigerians in hard-to-reach communities, such as Okada drivers. Nurses Rock.

IntNSA-Nigeria and Alpha Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter of Nursing Schools, Babcock University (Ilishan, Ogun State, Nigeria); University of Lagos (Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria), and Lagos State University (Ikeja, Nigeria). The nursing groups from four teaching hospitals also joined in: Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).

We are proud to acknowledge the successful activities of our nurses on World Drug Day. Their dedication and hard work in raising awareness about the consequences of SUD, despite unfavorable weather conditions, have not gone unnoticed. We want to thank our Sigma friends who made this event possible. We aim to promote more opportunities for collaboration and look forward to their continued success in future initiatives. 

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=44e8a5956a&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r8790207990355542629&th=197c71d97537a846&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=6CD21D84-251A-4255-ABC1-31636D567352&zw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyoivEl0NcY&authuser=0

References

Ogah, O. S., Orimolade, O. A., & Jinadu, T. O. (2023). Cardiovascular Diseases in Nigeria: Current Status, Threats, and Opportunities. Circulation, 148(19). https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.123.06367

Niu, C., Dong, J., Zhang, P., Yang, P., Xue, D., Liu, B., Xiao, D., Zhuang, R., Li, M., & Zhang, L. (2025). The global burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to high alcohol use from 1990 to 2021: an analysis for the global burden of disease study 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1541641

World Health Organization (WHO). (2024, June 25, pp. 270-271). Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240096745