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Episode details

World Service,06 Jun 2018,53 mins

Fighting Deadly Cough Syrup Addiction

Outlook

Available for over a year

Mairo Mandara is a Nigerian doctor tackling a scandal involving cough syrup containing the painkiller, codeine. Codeine can be addictive and in Nigeria thousands of people have been drinking this syrup by the bottleful to get a fix. The Nigerian government recently banned the import and manufacture of the syrup. Dr Mandara, a former surgeon and former country director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Nigeria, tells us why she's willing to risk her life to end codeine cough syrup addiction. Remedios La Misteriosa is a wrestler in the Bolivian city of El Alto. Remedios is part of the indigenous Aymara people and when she wrestles she wears her traditional skirt. She started training to learn to defend herself, but has since become a star in the sport. Outlook Inspirations nominee Kristal Bush runs a service which takes families in the American state of Pennsylvania to visit their relatives in prison. She started it because of her own experience. When she was growing up in the city of Philadelphia most of the male members of her family were in jail and often a long way away from home. She tells Matthew Bannister about the service she set up. You can find the other nominees for Outlook Inspirations 2018 by searching this website: www.bbcworldservice.com/outlookinspirations Lee Ridley has cerebral palsy which, among other things, affects his ability to speak. But that hasn't stopped him from becoming a stand-up comedian and he's just won the popular TV show Britain's Got Talent. Also known as "Lost Voice Guy" he tells Outlook's Joel Cox why he wanted to become a comedian. (Picture: Dr Mairo Mandara. Photo credit: BBC.)

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