An Executive Order to “significantly reduce the cost of drugs and pharmaceutical products” in the country will soon be signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Also, a $1 billion grant has been secured by the Federal Government from Afriexim Bank and foreign partners for medical industrialisation.
Health and Social Welfare Minister Muhammed Pate stated these yesterday during the second edition of the Ministerial Press Briefing Series in Abuja.
Prices of drugs have risen astronomically in recent months due to the forex crisis.
Pate added at the briefing attended by his Information and National Orientation counterpart, Mohammed Idris, that the Tinubu administration had warehoused N50 billion in the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), for the rehabilitation and expansion of the nation’s Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.
Pate, who said the exodus of many Nigerian medical professionals should not be viewed from a negative prism, confirmed the recruitment of 2,497 medical doctors, nurses, midwives, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) to bridge the gap in the health sector and enhance service delivery.
The minister also said the exit of some multinational drug firms like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi, was being looked into by the government.
