The Federal Government through the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, has met with heads of Pharmaceutical companies over the recent surge in the prices of medicines in Nigeria. According to the coordinating Minister, the federal government, as part of its agenda, is keen to find ways to ease and if possible reverse this hardship on Nigerians.
The Minister noted that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is working towards policy actions that may address the high prices of medicines, especially for the most vulnerable.
Before concluding, He stressed that A critical focus of Nigeria’s Health sector renewal is unlocking value chains of which the ‘Unlocking Healthcare Value-chain initiative’ was recently created.
“We are concerned about the high out-of-pocket expenses Nigerians experience in order to access medicines and other pharmaceutical products.”
“Our intent is to stimulate private sector-led, sustainable, local production of critical health products.”
“We have scheduled an invitation-only meeting next week with key national actors in the industry to follow up and find workable solutions.”
The meeting which was held at the 64th National Council for Health, #NCH64, in Ekiti saw a lot of stakeholders deliberate on workable solutions which will serve the national public interest.
