Highlights: Tramadol is an opioid substance similar to morphine, but in high doses it becomes addictive. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, consumption of this opioid in West Africa is higher than the world average. Tramadol presents a high risk of dependence, says Médecins du monde project manager Mathieu Hié. Seizures are still significant, as explained by Dr. Amado Philip de Andrés, representative of the UNODC for West and Central Africa.

Drugs: trafficking and consumption of tramadol are not weakening in West Africa

An opioid substance similar to morphine, it is normally used as a painkiller, but in high doses it becomes addictive. On the African continent, tramadol is becoming more and more widespread and poses real public health problems in many cities. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, consumption of this opioid in West Africa is higher than the world average.

Tramadol presents a high risk of dependence. © Unsplash - Christina Victoria Craft

By: RFI Follow

It was from the 2000s that tramadol began to spread in West Africa with the multiplication of distribution networks for pharmaceutical products in towns and villages.

Generally prescribed in cases of severe pain or after surgery, this opioid is especially known for increasing work capacity and resisting physical effort for longer.

Also readHow to spot and get out of Tramadol addiction?

The Ivorian Mathieu Hié is project manager of the risk reduction program for drug users at Médecins du monde: “

In certain pathologies, it happens that tramadol is prescribed to certain people for certain pains that these people could have . This creates an addictive effect. And when prescriptions are not followed by a health professional, they can lead to addiction.

A drug prized by the emerging middle classes and difficult professions

Although legal as a medicine, tramadol has become a real

drug

for a whole mass of African users from all social backgrounds. This is evidenced by the record seizures in several West African countries, along the Gulf of Guinea to the middle of the Sahel.

According to the UNODC, between 2017 and 2021, 97% of global tramadol seizures occurred in the region, mainly in Nigeria, Benin and Ivory Coast.

And the trend in tramadol consumption seems to continue in West Africa. Seizures are still significant, as explained by Dr. Amado Philip de Andrés, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for West and Central Africa.

In 2022, there have been significant seizures of tramadol, such as 43 tonnes in Nigeria and 12 tonnes in Benin. We continue to have the same figures in 2022-2023 [as in previous years]. Between 2017 and 2021, we see a growing middle class in Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mauritania. for criminal networks, the men and women of these middle classes can represent stable consumers. Women are very affected. There are specific communities that are faced with demanding working conditions: riverbanks, farmers, drivers, itinerant traders, workers in the aquifer sector are professions with increased vulnerability [...] We must support the States so that they have substitution treatments for metadone. It is imperative to consider problems related to drug use as a public health problem and not as criminal behavior. This means decriminalizing drug use.

02:35

Interview with Doctor Amado Philip de Andrés

Also read [Your reactions] Drugs: trafficking and use on the rise in West Africa

Drugs: trafficking and consumption of tramadol are not weakening in West Africa

Drugs: trafficking and consumption of tramadol are not weakening in West Africa

A drug prized by the emerging middle classes and difficult professions

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