'I dey chop only once a day so I go fit afford to buy my medicine'

As di cost of living continue to dey sky-rocket for Nigeria, many dey complain say dem no longer fit afford medical treatment from dia pocket as dem dey find am difficult to buy drugs sake of di high cost.

Some of dis pipo dey battle medical conditions like kidney failure, asthma, diabetes, and oda ailments.

One of dem, Ambros Adishi wey dey work as cameraman follow BBC Pidgin tok about im worry say im no fit afford im drugs again as e now need to chop once in a day so e go fit buy im drugs in bulk.

“I dey suffer, as I dey so, I no dey chop pass once a day, so I go fit buy my drugs. I dey buy two cartons of drugs from Onitsha come Lagos becos drugs dey veri expensive,” e explain give BBC Pidgin.

Oga Adishi dey concerned about di sustainability of di high cost of im drugs as e don turn to internet to dey beg pipo wey go fit gada moni assist am so e go fit buy drug for kidney treatment.

“Finance na di major challenge wey I dey face, I dey pay for my drugs and injections myself. I dey even come online to even beg for moni for dialysis, injections and drugs notin wey goment dey even do for me," e tok.

Oga Adishi express im frustration as di prices of im medical treatment don triple since im start im kidney treatment three years ago.

E give breakdown of wetin im bin dey spend before for im medical treatment and wetin im dey spend now as economic inflation don affect di nation healthcare.

"Wen I begin dey go for dialysis, I dey go do di check-up for N27,000 but now, e don cost, na n41,000 and we still dey receive notice say dem go soon increase am," e tok.

"All di drugs wey I don dey use before wey cost N10,000 don reach N40,000. Di drug wey cost N3,500 don reach N9,500."

Wetin dey make medicine cost?

A major challenge for Nigeria health sector na local production of drugs and high dependency on drug importation.

Nigeria chemical and pharmaceutical companies depend on 90% active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), wey dem dey import from China and India to repackage drugs for local consumption among Nigerians.

According to di National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria inflation rate dey 27.3 percent while food inflation dey 31.5 percent for di month of October.

Sake of high forex rate, patients for Nigeria, especially pipo wey no get health insurance or means to pay for di medical treatment don dey raise alarm ontop social media ova di tripled prices.

@AbdulateefAdek3, ontop im official X account tok say, e spend ova N35,000 to treat malaria two weeks ago while im spend N10,000 for 2022.

Anoda pesin ontop social media, @jazmineroy_ wey get asthma tok say, she don dey buy N70,000 inhaler.

Inflation, naira devaluation na some factors

Sabi pipo explain say pipo don dey turn to generic drugs as dem no fit buy branded drugs again becos of di high inflation.

Dem also explain di impact of dis hike in drug prices for di healthcare service wey citizens dey access for Nigeria.

According to dem, di low rate of local drugs production don drop. As citizen population dey increase, di drug supply chain dey reduce.

Member of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Abimbola Bowoto explain give BBC Pidgin say population don pass production and importers no go gree sell drugs below dia production cost sake of high forex.

Di pharmacist also explain say COVID-19 pandemic, subsidy removal, human resources, and poor power supply dey also impact local production for Nigeria as companies wey dey struggle wit di economy don dey leave di kontri.

"We get plenti alternatives for market but pipo want to use di multinationals drugs but alternatives dey affordable for pipo but for terminal disease di drugs dey cost, if goment fit assist wit di accessibility," Oga Bowoto tok.

Daniel Onyetulem, di owner of Stevenson Medicare tok say health insurance companies too dey face di struggle wit citizens becos of di state of di economy and forex but dem dey try dia best say make citizens get access to drugs.

Oga Onyetulem say as drug price don high, dem don turn to generic drugs as dem no fit buy branded drugs to help pipo recover from dia sickness.

"Profit margin don reduce becos of high cost of drugs but as healthcare providers, we dey do evri tin so pipo go get treatment from doctors," Oga Onyetulem tok.

Oga Onyetulem also give break down of di prices of regular drugs wey inflation don affect. E mention say antibiotics don cost reach between N1,000 naira to N2000.