The prohibitive cost of drugs

IF generally speaking, it is a terrible time to be a Nigerian, it can only be imagined how distressing it is to be ill in the country at the moment. Almost on a daily basis, the retail prices of drugs commonly used by Nigerians have continued to increase and, for many Nigerians, buying their lifesaving medications has become a big battle. Indeed, because of the skyrocketing cost of drugs, many have desperately sought herbal alternatives to their needed medications. On the average, the prices of most routine medications needed by patients to manage their health have increased by 300 percent. The prices of antibiotics, analgesics, anti-diabetics and key medications for chronic conditions have shot through the roof, leaving many patients in limbo. According to reports, those who are worst hit by the exponential surge in the prices of drugs are the poor, notably those on the minimum wage and below, those without steady sources of income, and those without reliable health insurance. The increasing cost of medications has been attributed to foreign exchange, inflation, importation of drugs, the elimination of fuel subsidies, and the exit, in August last year, of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, a company dealing with the marketing and distribution of consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical products, following the decision by its parent company, GSK Plc UK, to cease the commercialisation of its prescription medicines and vaccines through its Nigerian subsidiary.

Appalled by the ugly situation, the Lagos chapter of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) recently called on the federal government to subsidise healthcare needs. The association decried the impact of inflation on drug prices. Speaking during the ACPN Lagos Annual General Meeting and election, the outgoing chairman of the association, Lawrence Ekhator, said: “The daily change of import duties, as we see, is not going to go well for our society. A lot of people are now going back to using herbs that they had left because the prices of drugs are no longer within the reach of the common people.” And reacting to the troubling situation, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, recently indicated that the Federal Government would soon issue an executive order to curb escalating drug prices in the country, a short-term goal in reducing drug prices, while the mid to long-term goals would involve the domestication of imported drugs within the next three years in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Pate added: “In a strategic move to fortify the pharmaceutical infrastructure across the nation, the Federal Government initiated the construction of pharmaceutical-grade warehouses in 21 states in collaboration with drug management agencies. Two additional warehouses at the federal level are also underway, complemented by the installation of the Warehousing Management Information System– M Supply, in these 21 pharma-grade warehouses. This visionary project commenced in October 2023 and is slated for completion in March 2024, with a scheduled commissioning in April 2024.”

Indeed, the prohibitive cost of drugs, a logical corollary of the inflationary pressure in the economy, is bad news for Nigerians who were barely able to afford needed medication before the present administration came on board in May last year. Of course, the reports about the increasing cost of drugs should not be a surprise given the context of general rising inflation and prices in the economy. Drugs are not different from other economic items in the market that have been affected by rising prices and the fact that most of the drugs used in Nigeria are even imported makes them susceptible to the fluctuations in foreign exchange. The government, therefore, has to recognise the burden of the current situation on ordinary Nigerians who are almost invariably sentenced to death where they are not able to afford prescribed drugs. The rising cost of goods and services has to be brought down to manageable levels in order to give the people the chance to regain control over their life. The current prohibitive costs of drugs are not sustainable and represent a death knell for most of the people and should be addressed in a real manner that would help put drugs within the reach of the people once again.

We appeal to the Federal Government to walk its talk and ensure that Nigerians gain access to the drugs they desperately need to stay alive. People are dying daily and the government has to help. When it does help, the high cost of drugs will no longer be a death sentence and Nigerians battling serious ailments who have become despondent and for whom life currently has very little meaning will have hope.

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