By Osayi Aghahowa
Residents of Benin City, Edo State, have decried rising pharmaceutical costs in Nigeria, saying the situation now forces many people to abandon prescribed medications, patronise native remedies, or purchase incomplete drug dosages regularly.
The residents expressed frustration during interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, lamenting that worsening economic conditions had negatively affected access to proper healthcare and medical treatment across communities nationwide.
NAN reports that increasing drug prices, consultation charges, and laboratory fees have made healthcare services largely unaffordable for many low-income earners struggling to survive the economic hardship.
At Best Care Pharmacy in the New Lagos Road area, Mrs Rose Imadiyi became emotional while explaining how financial difficulties prevented her from purchasing prescribed medications after recently falling ill in Benin City.
Imadiyi said the prescribed drugs cost about N7,000, while she had only N4,000 available for feeding and healthcare expenses.
“I chose my children over drugs because they still need to eat.
“I could not spend all the money on medication and leave nothing for food,” Imadiyi added, emphasising that rising healthcare costs had forced many struggling families to make painful decisions between treatment and feeding needs.
A pharmacist, Dr Nkem Daniella Ogbidi-Emmanuel, attributed the growing trend to worsening economic conditions, saying many patients now prioritised feeding above healthcare because they lacked resources required to meet rising medical expenses nationwide.
“A lot of people do not have the wherewithal to cater for their health needs because of the economic situation of the country today,” Ogbidi-Emmanuel said while speaking on challenges facing patients recently.
“Many of them believe that if they can eat well, they can manage their illnesses,” she said, adding that some people now regarded proper medical care as a luxury because of rising healthcare expenses.
“Some even see proper medical care as a luxury because apart from drugs, they have to pay consultation fees and for laboratory investigations,” the healthcare provider said.
Ogbidi-Emmanuel said that some patients now requested medications without undergoing proper medical tests in efforts to reduce treatment costs, warning that such practices remained dangerous and could worsen underlying health conditions significantly nationwide.
“Some patients will say, ‘Doctor, just give me medicine,’ because they cannot afford tests for malaria, typhoid or other infections,” she said while describing the growing desperation among struggling patients across the country.
“Even when medications are prescribed, many cannot afford to buy the complete dosage because drugs are not subsidised in Nigeria,” Ogbidi-Emmanuel said while calling for improved healthcare support systems and government intervention nationwide.
She added that nearly 80 per cent of patients currently struggled to balance healthcare expenses with basic survival needs, urging authorities to introduce subsidies on essential medicines and strengthen public healthcare support programmes nationwide.
A midwife, Mrs Juliet Egbede, corroborated the development, saying many Nigerians now preferred to “eat to live before treating illness” because increasing financial hardship had made healthcare inaccessible for struggling households nationwide.
Egbede explained that some patients resorted to incomplete dosages or relied heavily on painkillers to manage symptoms temporarily because financial difficulties prevented them from accessing proper medical treatment and prescribed medications regularly nationwide.
She warned that such unhealthy practices could worsen medical conditions, especially among vulnerable persons, emphsising the importance of adhering strictly to prescribed treatments in spite of prevailing economic hardship and rising healthcare costs across Nigeria.
Another resident, Mr Ola Rasheed, said he had stopped visiting hospitals and pharmacies regularly because rising drug prices and medical expenses had made healthcare services increasingly difficult for ordinary Nigerians to afford recently nationwide.
“I buy agbo (local herbal concoction) because it is cheaper. I hardly go to pharmacies or hospitals again because the drugs are too expensive,” Rasheed said while describing his healthcare challenges in Benin City.
Similarly, Mrs Messy Omokhua said whenever she could not afford prescribed medications, she opted for cheaper brands or reduced quantities, hoping to recover quickly in spite of not completing the recommended treatment dosage for illnesses.
“Sometimes I buy cheaper alternatives or reduce the quantity and hope to get better quickly,” Omokhua said, lamenting that economic hardship had made it increasingly difficult for residents to access complete healthcare treatments nationwide.
