A Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow and Clinical Psychologist from Syracuse University, USA, Prof. Ignatius N. Ijere, has explained that there is no research to prove that addiction can be cured.

According to him, however, addiction can be managed and treated successfully.

"...There is no science, study or peer review that shows we could cure someone with behavioural or chemical addiction disorder. You can fabricate or make up anything but you cannot cure it. It can be managed successfully,” Prof. Ijere emphasised.

He was speaking at a workshop organised by the School of Nursing and Midwifery of University of Cape Coast which was on the topic, “Addiction Management.”

Prof. Ijere, a self-confessed coffee addict, pointed out that sex, shopping, video gaming, cell phones, pornography, amongst others, had been speculated to be addictive in nature in the past, describing them as clinical problems that had not been categorised as behavioural disorder by Psychiatric or Psychological organisations. He maintained that only gambling had been accepted worldwide as a behavioural disorder and called for relapse as part of the recovering process.

^{Group photo of Prof. Ijere (middle) and Dean of School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dr. Nancy Ebu (in yellow) with other members of faculty}

The Clinical Psychologist, who is assisting faculty members of the School of Nursing and Midwifery-UCC to develop a programme in Addiction Management, used the occasion to clear up popular misconceptions about herbal medicine and praised traditional medicine practitioners for their tremendous contribution to the healthcare system on the continent.

He called for the use of African traditional medicine in the treatment of drug addiction, saying: "it is cheap, holistic, safe, efficient, natural and healthy." He, however, admitted that poor quality control and safety, lack of documentations of adverse reactions, improper diagnosis as some of the limitations to African Medicine as a treatment for addiction.

^{Some participants in the workshop}

The Addiction Scientist expressed the hope that the prospects of African traditional medicine were bright and positive, "if viewed in the context of service provision, economical potential, poverty reduction and increase of healthcare coverage."

The Director of the Biomedical and Clinical Research Centre-UCC, Prof. Samuel Kyei, who chaired the function, expressed gratitude to Prof. Ijere for the insight and noted that the presence of Prof. Ijere would go a long way to assist Faculty of the School to develop a fully-fledged programme in Addiction Management.

The workshop also saw in attendance members of the Ghana  Registered Nurses and Midwives Association.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC