ArticlePloS one2025
The burden of unlawful use of opioid and associated epidemiological characteristics in Africa: A scoping review.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pain, policy, and the opioid dilemma in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of access, regulation, and health governance from 1990 to 2024.Health policy and planning · 2026Pooled it
- Beyond the Law: A Qualitative Socio-Ecological Study of Substance Use Treatment Barriers and Adaptations in Ghana.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2026Article
- Poor Glycemic Control in East Africa: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Public Health Implications in Diabetes Management.Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism · 2026Review
- The pathway to establishing and implementing opioid agonist therapy (OAT) for people who inject drugs in Nairobi, Kenya.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD) as a pre-neoplastic niche: Metabolic and inflammatory Gateways to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.Journal of clinical & translational endocrinology · 2025Review
- Opioid Addiction Medicine in Nigeria: Bridging Clinical Gaps in a Silent Epidemic-A Narrative Review.Nigerian medical journal : journal of the Nigeria Medical AssociationReview
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
introductionThere is an ongoing global upsurge of opioid misuse, fatal overdose and other related disorders, significantly affecting the African continent, due to resource-limited settings and poor epidemiological surveillance systems. This scoping review maps scientific evidence on epidemiological data on unlawful opioid use to identify knowledge gaps and policy shortcomings.
methodThe databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences) and references were searched guided by Population, Concept, and Context (PCC) and PRISMA-ScR. The extracted characteristics examined were author/year, African country, epidemiological distribution, age group (year), gender, study design and setting, common opioid/s abused, sources of drugs, reasons for misuse, summary outcomes and future engagement.
resultsA population of 55132 participated in the included studies of 68 articles, with the largest sample size of 17260 (31.31%) in a study done in South Africa, 11281(20.46%) in a study from Egypt and 4068 (7.38%) in a study from Ethiopia. The gender of the participants was indicated in 65(95.59%) papers. The mean and median age reported in 57(83.82%) papers were 15.9-38, and 22-31years. The majority of study-designs were cross-sectional, 44(64.71%), and the most used opioids were heroin, 14articles (20.59%), tramadol, 8articles (11.76%), and tramadol & heroin, 6 articles (8.82%) articles. Study-settings included urban community 15(22.06%), hospital 15(22.06%), university students 11(16.18%), and secondary school learners 6(8.82%). The highest epidemiological distributions were recorded in the South African study, 19615(35.60%), Egyptian study, 14627(26.54%), and Nigerian study 5895(10.70%). Nine (13.24%) papers reported major opioid sources as black market, friends, and drug dealers. To relieve stress, physical pain and premature ejaculation, improve mood and sleep-related problems and help to continue work, were the major reasons for taking these drugs as reported in twenty articles (29.41%).
conclusionThe findings of this scoping review show significant knowledge gaps on opioid usage in the African continent. The epidemiological distribution of unlawful use of opioids among young adults, drivers, and manual labourers in both genders is evident in the findings. The reason for use necessity scrutinises the role of social interaction, friends and family influence on illicit opiate use. Therefore, there is a need for regular epidemiological surveillance and investigations into multilevel, value-based, comprehensive, and strategic long-term intervention plans to curb the opioid problem in the region.
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