Illicit drug trade on the markets of Yaounde (Cameroon) and Niamey (Niger): Characteristics of salesmen and quality of drugs

This study characterizes salesmen and evaluates the drugs offer and quality of the drugs in the illicit selling network in Yaoundé (Cameroon) and Niamey (Niger). A sample of 75 and 124 drug salesmen working in these cities was questioned using a standardized questionnaire. The prescription of drugs and the advices provided by these poorly trained salesmen could have an important impact in term of public health: 32% and 67% of the salesmen in Yaoundé give systematically or occasionally advices regarding the prescription. The active substances are always present in the 153 drugs of our analysed sample, except for chloroquine-based drugs, among which 5/30 samples did not contain active substance. However, the rate of nonconformity is approximately 50% in the two cities. Complementary studies are needed to explore the origin of these nonconformities, between counterfeiting, low quality of the products provided by the factories, defects of conservation or instability of the formulations.