Counterfeit medicine is a significant issue in the region, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that Africa accounted for as much of 42% of the world’s fake drugs. According to Fitch Solutions, there are approximately 3m unregistered pharmaceutical premises in Nigeria alone, which pose a threat to public health and the growth prospects of the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. “Counterfeits…
In 2002 Nigeria was one of 10 African countries to endorse a target of allocating 1% of GDP to research and development (R&D); however, the country has fallen short of this goal in the intervening years, with the government pledging to spend 0.5% of GDP on R&D in 2021. As of May of that year there were a reported 223 clinical trials in progress in Nigeria, equivalent to 0.1% of the global…
Nigeria has around 115 pharmaceutical firms that produce analgesics, antimalarials, antibiotics, anti-retroviral drugs and vitamins for use in the domestic market, as well as for neighbouring countries. However, local production accounts for a relatively small share of domestic consumption, and exports comprise a comparatively minor portion of total output. The need for increased local production…
Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry was worth an estimated $1.4bn in 2016. It has the potential to reach $4bn by 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%, according to a 2017 report by consultancy McKinsey. Nigeria is still largely dependent on foreign suppliers of pharmaceuticals. In 2020 imports accounted for around 70% of its medication supply – sourced mainly from China…
In the second year of the pandemic, policy focus in Nigeria shifted to the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and efforts to prevent new waves of infection. However, challenges to controlling the virus remained – notably, substantial public funding gaps; insufficient testing capacity; public mistrust of vaccines; waning compliance with virus-reduction measures such as social distancing, hand washing and…
Nigeria finances its health care delivery through a combination of public and private sector initiatives. The first public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health sector took place after the government released its 2005 National Policy on PPP for Health, which was initially aimed at addressing specific metrics such as high infant and maternal mortality rates. In 2020 the health infrastructure…
Nigeria has recorded notable improvements on several major health and wellness indicators over recent decades, with the World Bank reporting that life expectancy at birth increased by 19% from 46 years in 1998 to 54.7 years in 2019. Notably, according to the “2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey”, published in collaboration with the FMH, the UN and the World Health Organisation (WHO),…
In December 2020 Dr Osagie Ehanire, the minister of health, held a press briefing to present the country’s health roadmap for 2021. He outlined government measures to fulfil the objectives of the National Strategy Health Development Plan II (NSHDP II) 2018-22, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari’s Health Sector Next Level Agenda (HSNLA), which is a nine-point, medium-term plan launched in 2019…
The FMH is the main government body responsible for providing health services for all Nigerian citizens, with a mandate to implement policies that strengthen the national health system in order to deliver affordable services in partnership with multiple stakeholders. The ministry oversees a number of departments, units and agencies, which include the Department of Public Health, which is responsible…
Although Nigeria has made tangible progress on a number of health and wellness indicators in recent years, the socio-economic and medical impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic took their toll, and the country continues to grapple with challenges related to its public health system and the rollout of universal health care (UHC). The federal government is a central player in health care provision in the…
