03/02/2026
“I NEED A VERY STRONG DRUG” A SILENT HEALTH TRAP
Yesterday, I witnessed something that made me pause.
A woman walked into a pharmacy to buy malaria drugs combined with infection treatment.
The nurse brought out one medicine.
She said, “I’ve taken this one before. It didn’t work.”
Another one came out.
She shook her head again.
“That one too didn’t work.”
She kept insisting:
“I need a very strong drug.”
I smiled but inside, I was worried.
Because what she was experiencing has a name:
DRUG RESISTANCE
Drug resistance happens when medicines that used to work stop working.
Not because the drug is fake.
Not because the illness is “stubborn.”
But because the body has been trained to ignore the medicine.
How Do People Create Drug Resistance (Without Knowing)?
• Taking malaria drugs anytime they feel fever
• Using antibiotics without lab tests
• Stopping drugs once they “feel better”
• Mixing drugs carelessly
• Reusing old prescriptions
• Taking “strong drugs” for small illnesses
Each time this happens, the germs learn.
They adapt.
They become stronger.
One day, you walk into a pharmacy and nothing works anymore.
• Simple malaria becomes complicated
• Minor infection turns serious
• Treatment becomes expensive
• Hospital admission becomes unavoidable
• Recovery becomes slowe
And the worst part?
Even “strong drugs” may fail.
The strongest drug is not the solution.
The right drug, used the right way, is.