NIGERIA’s heavy dependence on imported medicines is driving up the cost of essential drugs and making them increasingly difficult for Nigerians to afford, a public health expert has said.
Dr. Istifanus Sako Usman, Program Manager and Pharmacy Lead at Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), attributed the high cost of medicines to the country’s limited domestic pharmaceutical production, noting that Nigeria still relies heavily on imports to meet its medicine needs with cost implications that pose an affordability challenge.
“Since importation means higher cost, affordability will continue to be a challenge,” he told National Record.
According to him; “If the money that people have in their pockets is not enough to buy medicines, people end up self-medicating, which often makes matters worse. Or they manage without the medicines or even buy fake and substandard ones — a serious problem requiring government intervention. It may look cheaper, but at the end of the day, it is like being penny wise and pound foolish.”
Usman warned that self-medication could result in serious health complications, particularly when antibiotics are involved.
He said indiscriminate use of antibiotics can contribute to antimicrobial resistance, potentially rendering the drugs ineffective when they are genuinely needed.
“Self-medication can lead to so many complications, especially with antibiotics. It can lead to the development of resistance to such antibiotics, and when they are needed, they may not be useful,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to seek professional medical advice before taking medicines, stressing the need for patients to take only drugs prescribed by qualified healthcare providers, calling on the Federal Government to introduce measures that would support the growth of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, including waivers on import duties for pharmaceutical raw materials and excipients that cannot currently be sourced locally.
Dr. Usman said reducing the cost of importing raw materials would lower production costs and make locally manufactured medicines more affordable.
“If there are duty waivers, then the cost of bringing in the raw materials will be lowered,” he said.
He also identified inadequate and unreliable electricity supply as another major obstacle to local pharmaceutical production, urging the government to improve power infrastructure and energy supply.
According to him, reliable electricity would enable pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce more medicines locally and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
Usman also called for stronger disease surveillance and emergency preparedness systems to ensure the availability of essential medicines during disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.
He said proactive planning was critical to ensuring that the country was prepared to respond quickly to emerging health threats.
According to him, Nigeria’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of preparedness, noting that the country’s emergency response efforts attracted international commendation.
He urged the government to sustain that level of preparedness, particularly in view of disease outbreaks in other countries.
“For example, we know that there is an Ebola outbreak in Congo and neighbouring Sudan. Of course, one of the things that we should do is to ensure that there is surveillance in all entry and exit points of the country, such as the airports, seaports and borders with other countries,” he said.
He further called for emergency medicines to be stockpiled and strategically positioned in areas considered vulnerable to outbreaks.
“Because Nigeria has vast and porous borders with other countries, surveillance should be improved so that illegal immigrants will not come in with particular diseases that we are scared of.”
