Relating Pharmaceutical Firms' Behaviour With Level Of Satisfaction In An Alliance Network (The Nigeria Case)

This study establishes a relationship between the behaviour and level of satisfaction of pharmaceutical firms in a technology-based strategic alliance network using a formulated model and a simple regression analysis technique on a time series data generated through the instrumentality of questionnaire that was randomly administered unto 120 respondents in some pharmaceutical firms that were into technology-based strategic alliance in southwestern Nigeria. Result showed that a causal relationship exist between firms' behaviour and their level of satisfaction in the alliance network. However, the strength of such relationship depended on the rate of information flow among the alliance partners in the network. The study therefore concludes that modern information technology techniques such as the e-commerce and internet facilities be more utilized by the alliance partners in order to foster a better understanding among them if they intend to keep abreast with emerging technological opportunities. JORIND Vol. 5 (1) 2007: pp. 121-12

Study of the Prevalence of Self-Medication Practice among University Students in Southwestern Nigeria

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics and antimalarials among university students in southwestern Nigeria and evaluate the factors associated with self-medication. Methods: A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 2000 university students using a convenient sampling technique. Prevalence of the practice of self-medication was estimated in percentages while factors associated with self-medication were evaluated using multiple regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of the practice of self-medication was high among the age group of 25-44 years but lower in the 15 - 24 and ≥ 45 year age groups, respectively. Females exhibited higher prevalence of self-medication than males. Among undergraduates, self-medication increased as the students’ class level in the university increased. Postgraduate students exhibited low prevalence of selfmedication practices. Self-medication was significantly associated with age, gender and students’ class level in the university at p' < 0.001. A majority, 982 (53.8 %), of the students used antibiotics for selfmedication while 845 (46.3 %) used anti-malarial drugs for self-medication. Sources of drugs for selfmedication were patent medicines store (901 or 49.3 %), community pharmacies (531 or 29.1 %), friends (210 or 11.5 %), relatives (130 or 7.1 %) and left-over drugs from previous prescriptions (55 or 3.0 %). Conclusion: The study revealed that age, gender and students’ level in the university influenced selfmedication practices. The use of antibiotics in self-medication calls for urgent health policy intervention

Barriers to Herbal Medicine Research in Nigeria; Researcher’s Perspective: A Review

This paper presents the barriers to herbal medicine research in Nigeria. This is with a view to formulating appropriate strategies that would be deployed to overcome the identified barriers to herbal medicine research. The paper therefore identified and discussed some of these inherent barriers such as the standardization of herbal medicines according to western pharmaceutical clinical standards which is anchored on a single-active-ingredient approach; attitudes and perceptions of agonists of orthodox medicine; influence of traditional medicine practices on herbal medicinal products; problem of patenting inventions by researchers; lack of linkages between universities, research centres and the industries; decay of research and development (R&amp;D) infrastructure; and government under-funding of R&amp;D activities. The paper concluded that research in herbal medicine in Nigeria needs to be improved upon. In order to do this, herbal medicine researchers should make deliberate effort to choose, acquire, adopt, use, adapt, manage and master foreign technologies to suit local use (indigenous technology) which would enable the mass production of herbal medicines that will meet internationally acceptable standards. Government should increase R&amp;D funding, encourage patency, and encourage the facilitation of effective linkages and partnerships between the universities, research centres and the industries. Finally, government should ensure industrial peace, and a sound educational system imbued with congenial intellectual capacity and salubrious environment.Key words: Herbal medicine, research, barriers, Nigeria

Developing a Framework for Ethnomedicine Innovation System in Nigeria

This paper examines the interactions within the national Innovation System in order to develop a framework for an Ethnomedicine system for Nigeria. The strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat inherent in the existing national Innovation System were examined and a modified framework was proposed by the creation of a linkage between the Local National Innovation System Structure and the Developed World&#8217;s National Innovation System. This proposed linkage is expected to be fast-tracked through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow, in form of technology transfer, technical collaboration, technical assistance, technology-based strategic alliances, among others in the field of ethnomedicine. Through this linkage, the acquisition of tacit knowledge, product and process know-how, better management practices, skill, critical mass, best practices in advanced technologically superior operations needed to upgrade the value of Nigerian ethnomedicine research could be realized, through technological spillover since medicine plants are plentiful in Nigeria