From headache to severe stomach ache, everything seems to be curable within an average Kashmiri household. Anybody possessing a modicum knowledge of drugs is here eligible to impressively start prescribing medicines for the ailing people.
Most of the times such lucky break diagnosis works like miracle and sooner the persons earns a great regard within the circles of his influence. However, this ill-trend has horrible repercussions at times wherein people have lost their lives.
In recent past, the advent of modern medication started to revolutionize the world in an unprecedented manner. It started to cast shades of doubt on native medication practices that were mainly based on superstitious beliefs and false notions.
This was the era of medical enlightenment wherein people began to realise the difference between the advance researched medical practices and the bygone days of charlatans. But this awakening seems to be a short-lived phenomenon.
Sooner, the pseudo-medical practitioners substituted the archaic quacks claiming to have enough knowledge of medicine requisite for prescribing it to others. One of the prime factors of this growing malpractice is the easy acess to medicines and the active role of patients in their own healthcare.
The prime ill effect of self medication includes incorrect self-diagnosis which may at times result in further delays, seeking the required medical advice when needed. This usually also gives rise to a situation where infrequent but severe adverse reactions are experienced by the patient.
Many horrible incidents have been reported across the valley where delays in essential health advise from doctors has resulted in deaths. We are witnesses to a complicated paradoxical situation where the information explosion should have brought awareness and maturity rather than ignorance and complacency.
