Forex devaluation contributes to rising cost of drugs in Nigeria- Minister

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has attributed the devaluation of the foreign exchange to the rising cost of drugs in Nigeria.

Mr Pate explained at a webinar Tuesday that the devaluation is affecting manufacturers’ ability to buy raw materials and equipment to produce.

The webinar themed: “Addressing the Escalating Costs of Medicines,’ was organised by TheCable as part of activities to mark its 10th anniversary.

Other factors contributing to the escalating cost of drugs, according to the Minister, include power supply, technology, supply chain and regulatory landscape.

A former minister of health, who was the chairman of the event, Julius Adelusi-Adewuyi, emphasised industrialisation and increased funding of the health sector.

On funding, he said: “What can be done is to make sure that whatever is available now must be used judiciously along the corridors of openness and accountability.”

Corroborating the minister, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Moji Adeyeye, said the way to tackle the exit of multinational pharmaceutical companies from the country is to have more local manufacturers making those products.

“We need the naira devaluation to stabilise. There is nothing those multinationals that left were making that we cannot make in Nigeria. The one item we cannot make is an inhaler,” she said

Health insurance

Mr Pate said less than 10 per cent of Nigerians are covered under health insurance, adding that financing the sector and affordability of service have been major issues in the last 40 years in the country.

He said: “This means many fund healthcare out of pocket. Many of us will be thrown into poverty if met with catastrophic health challenges like cancer and kidney failure because we don’t have a viable insurance platform.

“For Nigeria, we have been playing catch up for 20 years. If we had built an industrial base to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and pharmaceuticals, we probably would have much less impact from the global increase in the price of APIs and the supply chains.”

Mr Pate said the government has had a series of engagements with industry players, practitioners, and stakeholders on the escalating costs of pharmaceutical products in the country.

He added that President Bola Tinubu has directed that the ministry work in collaboration with the private sector to find a solution.

“We have had engagements with the pharmaceutical consultative forum, and we are finalising an instrument from the government that will affect the fiscal policy constraints on the import of raw materials and manufacturing equipment,” he said.

NMA raises concerns

Also speaking at the webinar, the President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Uche Ojinmah, suggested that the Nigerian government should set up a health sector development bank to encourage local pharmaceutical companies.

According to Mr Ojinmah, setting up a health sector development bank would help the local pharmaceutical industry to thrive, adding that the government must also reduce importation tariffs on drugs to encourage foreign investors.

He said: “Nigeria must urgently declare a state of emergency, especially in the pharmaceutical sector. Nigeria should go full blast in supporting the local manufacturing sector in the pharmaceutical industry with the full regulation of NAFDAC.

“Nigeria should inaugurate a health sector development bank that will have different facilities for all the health care contributors and stakeholders so that they can go to this bank to fulfil the conditions that should not be as stringent as the one in CBN.

“It will encourage pharmaceutical companies to go into production of drugs we need today like antibiotics, antihypertensives and anti-diabetes.”

Mr Ojinmah emphasised the need for the health insurance programme to help Nigerians access good health services.

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Other comments

In her comments, the Executive Secretary of Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Chisom Uchem, suggested that the government should encourage and promote clinical research.

“When people look for drugs and cannot get them, there will automatically be therapeutic failure,” she said.

“It’s time for the government to encourage experts to research the use of our local herbal remedies for production.”