The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Uche Ojinmah, on Tuesday, said the rising costs of healthcare was pushing Nigerians deeper into poverty.
Dr Ojinmah said this at a webinar organised by TheCable to commemorate its 10th anniversary.
The webinar, titled ‘Addressing escalating costs of medicines,’ is a virtual event aimed at igniting a comprehensive dialogue on the alarming rise in the prices of essential medicines and medical consumables across Nigeria.
The webinar organised serves as a call to action, bringing together key stakeholders to identify practical solutions that can alleviate the dire situation and ensure equitable access to essential healthcare.
On February 28, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate said the Federal Government would issue an executive order to curb escalating drug prices in the country.
Prof Pate explained that the executive order is a short-term goal in reducing drug prices.
However, two months down the line, the government has yet to sign the order amidst skyrocketing costs of drugs and economic hardships.
Speaking at the webinar, Dr Ojinmah said the health sector is important because when people are sick, their productivity decreases.
“Nigerians are going deeper into poverty as a result of purchasing healthcare. Nigeria should develop a health sector development bank to help the local pharmaceutical industry.
“If we cannot bridge the inequality in the health sector, the rich that can afford the drug will stay healthy and stay rich while the poor would be on a downward spiral. We will have a problem on our hands because there is a point it will get to and people will no longer sit in their houses and die but move into the streets and seek a solution.”
He, however, urged the government to move from planning to rolling out policies for the good of the people.
“It is the position of the NMA that we should move from planning to rolling out policies. We call on the government to link up good health indices with good economic outcome
“We should increase the penetration of the National Health Insurance Scheme to reduce out-of-pocket expenditures,” he added.