From the pharmaceutical sector to the healthcare delivery services, Nigeria’s treatment of one ailment or the other has been rendered helpless. Hospitals are also not spared.
Currently, Nigeria is rated by the World Health Organisation, WHO, as one of the eight countries in the world with exceptionally exorbitant drug prices.As you’re reading this article, US$1 is exchanging at the parallel market at N1, 200, as of 24th October 2023, the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar is about N800, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
A Vanguard investigation found that Augmentin, a GSK product for the treatment of infection and pneumonia, is no longer available at a fixed price. The price is now determined by the buyer. Ampiclox, another GSK product that was formerly priced between N500 and N1,000 per sachet, is now priced between N10,000 and N20,000 per sachet, depending on location.
Many Nigerians can no longer afford regular paracetamol; a packet of paracetamol that cost N50 a year ago now costs N200 to N300, depending on the location and brand. Every morning, Adebayo purchases a cup of the mixture for N200, which, according to him, was formerly sold for N100. “Now every morning before they give out products they will ask for the exchange rate and use it to compute the price for the drugs they sell for that day, that is why some days you get the price of a product in the morning by evening time the price will change, so it is affecting the cost of the drugs and other medications.
“Customs duties are getting higher and higher. Before now, Customs used to calculate duties based on an exchange rate of about N500 to $1, but today, they are using an exchange rate of over N700 to $1 to calculate the duties. “People are coming down with kidney problems. Go to nephrology clinics, patients are there. This is major because people are not buying the right drugs. Hospitals like LASUTH and LUTH are battling with these complications. There is a need to address this problem.”
“It can go as high as N45,000 for the one gram, then about N40,000 for the 625 if you ever see it. The hike in Augmentin has affected the prices of other Amoxicillin, some that were sold for N1,500 in the past, are now over N3,000, and some sold for N2,000 are now sold for N6,000.