Drugs Price Hike Likely To Result In Reduction In Life Expectancy In Nigeria – Experts
Naomi blog
The rising price of malaria, antibiotics, anti-diabetes, hypertension drugs and other pharmaceutical products have heightened the fears of increased mortality and reduced life expectancy among Nigerians.
The danger becomes more ferocious as retail prices for commonly used drugs in Nigeria have risen by at least 300 per cent daily untamed.
Apart from food inflation, which stood at 40.01 per cent in March, the inflation rate in pharmaceuticals has witnessed an exponential surge in the last four months.
A recent Market Survey conducted in Abuja showed that the prices of antibiotics and malaria drugs such as Tavernic surged to N25,735 from N11,370 in January, Levofloxacin SGS sold for N1,200 from N550.
Also Terivid tablet 200mg (N10,320 from N4,460), Coartem 80/480( N6,500 from N1,750), Amatem soft gel (N3500 from N1,375), Lonart 80/480 (3500 from 1,700), Ventolin inhaler is sold at N9,000 as against N2,000, while Seretide inhaler goes for N31,950 as against N8,000, Augmentin 625mg from N14,200 to N25,000.
The fate of most Nigerians who battle to feed with N30,000 minimum wage now lies in the balance.
In an interview last month, Prof Cyril Usifoh, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, blamed the rising prices on the foreign exchange crisis, dependence on medicine imports and rising energy costs.
The Naira closed at N1,234.49 per dollar at the FMDQ market on Monday, and the recent 240 per hike in electricity tariff poses more danger.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, drug imports surged by 68 per cent in the third quarter of 2023.
The development comes amid the exit of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in August last year.
According to a Community Pharmacist, Blessing Adams, the increase in the prices of medicine would lead to many Nigerians dying of chronic diseases.
She said patients now go after alternatives like herbs due to the high cost of prescribed drugs.
“It is pathetic. A patient in my hospital died because of an inability to afford an inhaler.
“Also, a hypertensive patient died because he could no longer afford ARB, CCB and diuretics antihypertensive drugs,” she lamented.
A patient in the National Hospital, Abuja, Isaac Adebayo, lamented that his family is contemplating alternatives due to the high prices of drugs.
“We can no longer afford drugs due to high prices. As I speak to you, my family are looking at alternative treatment outside the hospital”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Ali Pate, reiterated in February that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is targeting an Executive Order as a short-term measure to reduce the surge in prices of pharmaceutical products; however, this has not come to light.
Dr Uche Ojinmah, the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, said the surge in prices of drugs had led to a rise in death rate and a reduction in life expectancy in Nigeria.
He noted that the country was currently facing high prices of medications and a surge in fake drugs.
Ojinmah urged the government to declare an emergency in Nigeria’s health sector to avoid further collapse.
He added that the Nigerian government should look at tax waivers for the imports of medicines and pharmaceuticals and intervention in the local production of drugs.
“We are in a country where for a hypertensive patient, a drug that used to be sold for N2,000 to N4,000 a few years ago is now selling for N39,000 for a monthly dose, and the minimum wage is N30,000.
“Antibiotics are now within the range of N8,000 and above. The cheapest drug now is maybe Paracetamol, within N400 per pack.
“In this country, there will be dual disease burdens. Infection disease and lifestyle disease.
“In the Western world, they are mainly suffering from diseases of lifestyle such as diabetes, hypertension and others, but in Africa, it is a dual disease burden.
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