Drug Prices Soar Despite Tinubu’s Executive Order on Pharmaceutical Relief

|By Adejumo Adekunle

Nigerians continue to battle skyrocketing drug prices despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s executive order aimed at easing the cost of essential medicines.

On June 30, 2024, Tinubu, through the Minister of Health, Muhammed Ali Pate, announced an executive order that waived import tariffs, excise duties, and Value Added Tax (VAT) on raw materials, machinery, and pharmaceutical products. The move, approved by the Federal Executive Council, was designed to lower production costs, boost local manufacturing, and make medicines more affordable.

Pate, in a statement posted on X, stressed that the order would “introduce zero tariffs, excise duties, and VAT on specified machinery, equipment, and raw materials, aiming to reduce production costs and enhance our local manufacturers’ competitiveness.”

But over a year after its implementation, drug prices have climbed instead of falling. A market survey shows insulin now sells for N18,000, up 29 percent from N14,000 in June 2024. Similarly, a glucometer has surged 41 percent, from N20,500 to N29,000.

Hypertension patients face even steeper hikes: metformin rose 30 percent (N500 to N650), amlodipine increased 33 percent (N1,800 to N2,400), while Exforge soared 83 percent, from N32,800 to N60,000.

The sharpest spikes hit malaria treatment. Coartem, a widely used antimalarial, jumped 124 percent (N3,800 to N8,500), Artesunate injection climbed 56 percent (N1,600 to N2,500), while Lokmal tablets more than doubled from N1,200 to N2,450.

Amid the increases, a few drugs recorded price relief. Augmentin fell 24 percent, from N18,500 in June 2024 to N14,000, while the Ventolin inhaler dropped 12 percent, from N8,500 to N7,500.

Despite these exceptions, most medicines remain unaffordable for millions of Nigerians, raising doubts about the effectiveness of the executive order.