The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Uche Ojinmah, suggested on Tuesday that Nigeria should establish a health sector development bank to support the local pharmaceutical industry.

This recommendation was made during a webinar organized by TheCable in honor of its 10th anniversary.

The webinar, titled ‘Addressing escalating costs of medicines,’ was held to spark a comprehensive discussion on the alarming increase in prices of essential medicines and medical consumables in Nigeria. The event aimed to mobilize stakeholders to come up with practical solutions to tackle the crisis and ensure fair access to crucial healthcare services.

On February 28, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, announced that the Federal Government planned to issue an executive order to control the rising prices of drugs in the country.

This short-term measure was intended to lower drug costs, but as of now, the government has yet to sign the order despite the continued surge in drug prices and economic challenges.

During the webinar, Dr Ojinmah emphasized the significance of the health sector, stating that illness negatively impacts people’s productivity. He expressed concern that the escalating healthcare expenses are pushing more Nigerians into poverty.

“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 can’t 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,” the NMA president stated.

He, also, urged the government to move away from planning to roll 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,” Ojinmah emphasized.