ASSESSMENT OF RHEMA 93.3FM MORE HEALTH MORE LIFE PROGRAM ON SELF MEDICATION AND OTHER HEALTH VICES IN ABA RESIDENTS

The use of “More health More life” Awareness radio program in Rhema 93.3 to support the fight against certain unhealthy practices such as self-medication has remained an essential focus engaging the attention of health stakeholders. The practice which is common among the residents in Aba metropolis, call for a serious concern due to the adverse effect associated with it. Therefore, this study focused on the assessment of Rhema 93.3 FM “More Health More Life” program against selfmedication and other health vices on residents of Aba metropolis. The Uses and Gratification Theory provided the framework for this study. Survey Research method was employed for this study using questionnaire to collect data, the population of the study was 1,230,000 residents in Aba metropolis, the sample sizes of the study is 380, the method used in getting the sample size is Taro Yameni, From the analysis of the data collected was analyzed using simple percentage table, it was also discovered that there was inadequate, radio talk show on self-medication was not regular and popular among residents in Aba metropolis. These findings thus point to why inappropriate self-medication still prevails among residents in Aba metropolis. The result revealed that majority of residents had knowledge of selfmedication, but still practice it. Thus, “More life More health programmes in Rhema 93.3 FM were found to be irregular and inadequate to impact positively on selfmedication behavior. However, the study shows that interpersonal communication and social media were the most effective means of reaching out to residents about self-medication and its consequences. The study concludes that media program on self-medication in Aba metropolis has not effectively created positive response towards changing residents “Self-medication behavior.” It is therefore recommended that the Government frequently featuring it in various radio programmes using more mass media platforms. These will help to design a contextbased language in packaging self-medication messages that will appeal to the sense of the target audience. By so doing, there is the likelihood that it may engender behavior change on self-medication crises amongst Aba residents.