The skyrocketing cost of medicines over the last few months is taking a toll on Nigerians. Findings revealed that many people suffering from minor and common ailments and those who require life-long management of their ailments, such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension are increasingly finding it difficult to meet up with the costs of their prescribed and over-the-counter medicines.

Some brands of popular medicines have also become scarce across many pharmacies, health facilities and retail outlets. As a result, patients have to travel long distances to access them and at very high prices, compared to previous prices.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that the situation is dire for some patients with chronic ailments, such as cancer, heart, kidney and liver diseases as some have to resort to partial treatment or abandon it all together.

Nigeria has been described as Africa’s largest drug market with over 70 per cent of medicines used in the country imported from India, China and other countries.

Experts also said over 70 per cent of payment for health care services in Nigeria is done from out-of-pocket expenditure, meaning that people pay most of their health care bills from their little income.

This has made it difficult for many, particularly poor Nigerians to access health care, especially with the skyrocketing cost of medicines.

Reasons for rising cost of drugs

The president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Prof Cyril Usifo, blamed the hike in prices of drugs on the increase in the prices of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

“One thing is obvious. The things we use to produce medicines, the APIs, are not produced here. It depends on how much we are using to get them. Then, there is no energy to produce these things. You use generators; and you know the price of diesel. If you price all these together, as a businessman, would you sell for less price?

“If you produce with one kobo, won’t you sell it for one and half kobo so that you would be able to pay your workforce?

“So the answer is obvious. The roads are not good. Go to Agbara and see that some people would produce the drugs but by the time they are evacuating them to reach people here, the vehicle breaks down because the roads are very bad.

“What I am saying in essence is that whatever is happening is not particular to the pharmaceutical sector. It is very painful because at the end of the day, what is happening is that some pharmacies would buy a drug at N2 and they would not give me the exact price. By the time they sell it to you and go to buy the same drug, it would be N5.

“They don’t even have their capital recovered and they have to spend more. And when you want to buy from them you begin to complain.The same companies that are producing are increasing within three months. A pharmacy told me they increased the price of a particular drug more than three times,” he said.

The chairman of the PSN, Borno State chapter, Umaru Abdulkareem, said another reason for the rising cost of medicines was the exit of multinational pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from the country.

He said that as a result, the cost of the medicines they manufactured, like their brand of salbutamol inhaler called Ventolin, which is used by asthma patients, has gone high.

He said the cost of some drugs for asthma patients that was just N4,000 had increased to N12,000.

While saying that the cost of another of their brand called Augmentin tablet that was just N6,000 has risen to N24,000 , he said there was also a rise in anti-malaria drugs.

Forex scarcity impedes pharmaceutical companies

In recent months, many multinational pharmaceutical companies have exited Nigeria, citing unfavourable business environment.

An acute forex shortage sparked by lower oil revenues has affected multinationals operating in the country.

For some, there weren’t enough dollars to import raw materials, while others were unable to repatriate profits to their parent companies due to the FX challenge.
money to replace them.

He lamented that the rising cost of drugs was really affecting those managing the ailment.

He called on the federal government to subsidise diabetes drugs, saying many have died as a result of the inability to afford the drugs.

Speaking on the development, Daniel Edegbe, a pharmacist and the owner of Gina Pharmacy, attributed the development to lack of forex for importers to bring in drugs, rise in dollar exchange rate to naira, pharmaceutical company leaving the country, as well as fuel increase.

“In September, 500 miligram of Glucopage was N1,000 a sachet, but it is now N1,500. A pack of 1,000 miligram of it moved from N4,500 in August to N6,200 in September.

“Everything has gone up, including drugs. All branded drugs are very costly now. Augmentin, which was sold at N700 in August, is now N26,000 and above,” he said.

Way out

The president of the PSN, Usifo called for increased efforts towards local drug production, saying, “What is going on might look strange but we are beginning to see the realities of things ourselves. It may be an opportunity for us. We need to do more local production.”

Also, Edegbe said government should make forex available to importers.

Umaru Abdulkareem, the chairman of the PSN, Borno State chapter, advised people to patronise other brands registered by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), as well as check the quality of the foods they eat when they cannot find their recommended brands.

He said, “If you cannot buy those expensive ones like the branded Augmentin, there are other brands that are of lower price you can go for. They are also of good quality but just not the GSK brand.

“Government should also look into encouraging local manufacturing of drugs. If drugs are produced in the country, we can try to control and reduce the exorbitant prices.

“I also advise the government to do their best to control the dollar exchange rate.”

He advised Nigerians against patronising quacks or traditionalists for solutions, adding, “If you have an illness, go to the hospital, they would test you and drugs would be prescribed by physicians.”

slivertongue:
dividends of APC's disasterous rule

vanbonattel:
I don't know why patients are trying to blackmail the good government of Tinubu.

Did they try native medication, what about agbo sellers and babalawo healers everywhere? They should buy Nigeria medication 💊

Zimzy:
This is not good

Irupetepete:
Up tinubu
Up apc

vanbonattel:
I don't know why patients are trying to blackmail the good government of Tinubu.

Did they try native medication, what about agbo sellers and babalawo healers everywhere? They should buy Nigeria medication 💊

HateBigots:
... Elections have consequences.
Next time vote wisely.