The House of Representatives Wednesday called for the full operationalisation of a 2024 Executive Order with a view to cutting down the cost of medicines in Nigeria.
The federal government issued the Order in June 2024, to eliminate tariffs, VAT, and import duties on pharmaceutical raw materials, equipment and machinery to lower production costs and boost local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The House in a resolution, Wednesday urged the Federal Ministries of Health and Social Welfare, Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to urgently implement and monitor its full operationalisation.
It also urged the federal government to create a dedicated pharmaceutical industrialisation fund under the Bank of Industry (BOI) to provide single-digit interest loans to indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturers and its relevant agencies to fast-track the registration and quality assurance of locally produced essential medicines.
This was sequel to a motion by Hon. Mascot Ikwechegh, who lamented the rising cost of medicines in Nigeria and the need to fast-track the revival of local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“The prices of essential medicines in Nigeria have risen astronomically over the past two years, making life-saving drugs unaffordable to millions of Nigerians, especially in rural and underserved communities.
“According to the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Drug Dealers, the prices of some common medications have increased by 300 percent to 500 percent due to factors including inflation, naira devaluation, import dependency and supply chain disruptions,” he said.