By Isaac Olufemi Ojo
LAGOS — Popular digital health advocate and physician Dr. Chinonso Fidelis, widely known online as Aproko Doctor, has raised the alarm over the proliferation of unverified health claims and fake medical products on Nigerian social media space, declaring that misinformation has graduated from a mere side effect of digital platforms into a full-scale business model.
Dr. Fidelis made this disclosure in an exclusive interview, pointing out that every day, Nigerians browsing platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are more likely to encounter a confident health falsehood than a verified medical fact.
He attributed the booming trend to three major drivers: high-cost and hard-to-reach conventional healthcare systems that force citizens to seek cheaper alternatives, digital media algorithms that reward loud and confident voices over clinical accuracy, and a general lack of consequences for peddling health scams online.
The Dangers of Online Herbal Products and AI Impersonation
Addressing the clinical impact of unverified online remedies, the physician noted that Nigerian doctors have grappled with organ toxicity from unregulated mixtures for years. Citing existing data, he revealed that peer-reviewed studies estimate herbal remedies account for roughly 30 to 35 percent of all acute renal failure cases in Africa, while a Nigerian tertiary hospital linked herb ingestion to 46 percent of its liver disease admissions.
What has changed, according to him, is the marketing channel. Scammers have transitioned from physical market stalls to sophisticated digital setups utilizing artificial intelligence to clone reputable voices and faces.
“Scammers have cloned my voice and my image to sell a hypertension product called Kadizu, that I have nothing to do with,” Dr. Fidelis stated. “Trust is now the most expensive ingredient in any sale, and they found a way to steal it for free.”
He explained that scams persist due to slow platform takedown policies, the genuine underlying fear Nigerians face regarding silent killers like hypertension, and a historical shortage of accessible, trustworthy late-night medical alternatives—a gap his team aims to bridge with “Our Doc,” an AI-powered health system on WhatsApp.
Warning Signs and Regulatory Updates
To help citizens filter out digital quackery, Dr. Fidelis outlined three red flags:
The Language: Real medicine says a product “may help,” whereas scams claim a product “cures.”
The Menu: Products claiming to cure multiple unrelated conditions simultaneously (like diabetes, hypertension, and stroke) should be avoided.
The Reciprocal: Genuine practitioners have physical addresses and transparent communities, whereas scammers rely only on a payment link, a delete button, and locked comment sections.
Commenting on regulatory efforts, he noted that agencies like NAFDAC and ARCON are attempting to adapt laws originally designed for billboards to fit the fast-paced digital era.
He welcomed recent legal developments, including an April 29 Federal High Court ruling confirming ARCON’s authority to regulate social media advertising, and a House of Representatives bill seeking to empower NAFDAC to monitor herbal products.
However, he emphasized that agencies need digital enforcement units, swift platform partnerships, and stricter legal frameworks—such as criminal penalties for AI health impersonation and mandatory 24-hour takedown protocols—rather than just shifting blame.
To combat the menace proactively, Dr. Fidelis advocated for “pre-bunking”: flooding digital spaces with consistent, plain-language health education from trusted sources so the public is inoculated with the truth before encountering a scam.
