•Oyintiloye
Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in the hike in prices of essential drugs in the country.
Oyintiloye, who made the appeal while speaking with newsmen yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, said that many Nigerians are currently unable to access most essential drugs due to the extreme high prices.
He said that the escalating prices of drugs could be attributed to a combination of factors, such as the withdrawal of GSK, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, the high rate of inflation in devaluation of Naira, among others.
Oyintiloye said that the aforementioned factors, among others, had made prices of drugs such as amlodipine, augmentin, paracetamol, exforge, Coartem, and other essential drugs to become unaffordable for the common man.
According to him, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the value of medicines imported into Nigeria rose by 68 per cent to N81.8 billion between July and September 2023.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said that the surge in the prices of drugs had placed a significant financial strain on individuals and families already struggling with the harsh economy.
“When the local currency weakens against foreign currencies, the expenses incurred in procuring these essential medical supplies rise, consequently driving up the overall prices of medicines in the country.
“The scarcity or limited availability of foreign exchange exacerbates the ripple effect, forcing manufacturers to compensate by increasing the prices of medicines to cover their higher operational costs”, he said.
The APC chieftain, who commended President Tinubu’s effort in repositioning the economy, however, said there is an urgent need to redouble efforts in the health sector.
Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, noted that patients struggling with chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, among others, now find it difficult to cope with the surge in the prices of their medication.
“The way the prices are going up, people who are in need of most of the essential drugs might not be able to afford it and this might increase the death rate in the country.
“Insulin, for instance, is now between N12,000, and N14,000, and some of the patients might need two or three of it in a month.”
