Mobile Medicine Vender & Street Doctor
In the US, you need to obtain a doctorate degree in order to be a pharmacist. Not so in Niger, or West Africa in general.
Medications can be acquired on the street or in the market, through personal mobile medicine venders. The use of medicine sellers is common in both rural and urban areas, among children and adults, and across all socio-economic groups.
Are the street venders equipped with knowledge to advise drug appropriateness, dosing, and side effects? Are the medications manufactured and stored correctly? Would the extreme heat and light endanger the drug potency?
The answers to the above questions are probably no, no, and yes. However, they are accessible, convenient, probably affordable too, so there is a place for them, for now.
Medicine vender at livestock market in Agadez. Medications were sold alongside with candies and cookies. From what I could tell, the medications were mostly for fever and pain, and manufactured in India. There's also Liogra and some other -gra type of drugs, which I assume are male sexual performance enhancer.
Medicine vender at the Gerewol night market. His stocks are significantly more diverse. I saw metronidazole, Indomethacin, and some suspicious aphrodisiac.
Bobaraba means "big butt" in many West African languages. Not sure what this medications is used for. Maybe breast enlargement?
Antimalarial injectables
As you can see, aphrodisiacs are disproportionately high in the composition of this drug stand.
The packaging with Chinese label: 迷奸粉, sounds like a date rape drug. Pretty sure it's illegal stuff.
Found this bottle of Amoxicillin at a nomad's campground. My guard picked it up and held it for me to take pictures.
Antimalarial medications found on the ground in a village home.
Interesting enough, the hotel we stayed in Tahoua distributed free condoms. It's nice to see the local reference of the Fulani hat. Condom is a form of hat.
In Niamey, this man had a medicine stand that he could carry with his head See next pic.
At the market in Niamey National Museum, a traditional doctor was treating a kid with burns. The mother held a car key in the hand, indicating they are probably from a well-off family in Niger.
