It is a nice topic and very common in countries that don't control prescription medicines. I have experience of living in two countries with two different policies. I was born in Brazil and now I live in Canada. When I used to live in Brazil any medication was free of prescription, except some considered black label (such as psychotropic drugs and other drugs that can cause addiction). My mother-in-law was one of those who when feels sick she takes anything by herself without going to the doctor, so I know many people like your uncle.
Similarly in my country, there are a lot of medications that do not require prescriptions to purchase. The fact that there are no standard healthcare and following the fact that a lot of people live below the poverty line allows people to purchase medications from roadside medicine shops.
in Brazil was easy to buy it all the time. Now I need a prescription every time that it ends. It is easy when you have a family doctor.
To be factual, both have their sides, but it is better to have a priscription from a medical practitioner, than to purchase a medication you feel is good because of pharma advertisement. I have heard a lot of people use ciprofloxacin tablet when they suffer from Typhoid (Salmolena typhi) only to get to the hospital and the doctor tell them the medication wasn't doing well to inhibit the growth more less cure the patient. Intravainous treatment is then employed.
When I arrived at my new residency place, I didn't have a family doctor for me, so I had to go to an emergency room from the hospital, and stay in a line for a couple of hours, just to get a prescription from a doctor.
This is very touching, i must say. Having to wait in line for long to get prescriptions isn't a good thing.
Thanks a lot for reading through my post