The Federal Government has raised concerns about the low number of Nigerians with health insurance coverage, stating that less than 10 per cent of the population has any form of health insurance.
This lack of health insurance, according to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, is a major contributing factor to the high cost of healthcare in Nigeria.
Pate disclosed this, yesterday, during The Cable webinar titled “Addressing the Escalating Costs of Medicines and Medical Consumables in Nigeria” to commemorate their 10th anniversary.
He said that most Nigerians relied on out-of-pocket payments for medical care, which can be financially crippling, especially for those facing serious illnesses.
Pate added that the Federal Government has had a series of engagements with the pharmaceutical firms, led by former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, along with other heads of our regulatory bodies.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has emphasised the need for domestic manufacturing.
She hinged decades of underinvestment in the sector as a major contributing factor to the current challenges.
She said: “What we are seeing now is a result of decades of decay. If we do not focus on local manufacturing or resuscitate our industry from the regulatory perspective, we will continue to have drug insecurity.
“The harder way is going to be the easier way in the long run. We cannot give what we don’t have. We have to give international standards, as well as the quality approach to local manufacturing of drugs.”
She said the policy requires firms that have been importing drugs for five years to switch to local manufacturing during their next renewal period.
Adelusi-Adeluyi, founder and chairman of Juli Plc., said: “On funding, what can be done is to make sure that whatever is available now must be used judiciously along the corridors of openness and accountability.”
