Tinubu Approves Three Resolutions To Reduce Pharmaceutical Costs, Bridge Brain Drain In Health Sector
ABUJA – President Bola Tinubu at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, January 17, approved three resolutions aimed at strengthening the health and social welfare sector to better deliver to Nigerians.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, who disclosed this to journalists after the first FEC of 2024, presided over by President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, said the steps are targeted at relieving the escalating cost of pharmaceuticals, funding of health sector regulatory bodies and mitigating the human resource flight in the sector.
According to Professor Pate, the decisions, one of which would be codified into an Executive Order for effective implementation, the President’s action was guided by his Renewed Hope Agenda, which puts to the human capital, health and social welfare of Nigerians at the center.
He said the Executive Order aims to enable local drug manufacturers to thrive, while ensuring fair pricing of essential medicines explaining that this became necessary following the exit of major multinational pharmaceutical companies from Nigeria, reducing competition.
He stated: “Consistent with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which puts to the human capital, health and social welfare of Nigerians at the center, today at the Federal Executive Council, Mr. President took three far-reaching decisions relating to the health sector.
“The first is on the rising cost of pharmaceuticals, the hike in prices that we have in the pharmaceutical, which is going beyond the reach of many Nigerians, life-saving commodities, devices like syringes and needles and the exit of major companies from our market.
“Those decisions also include the regulation of the sector to protect the health and well being of humans and the third decision is regarding how we deal with the crisis of human resources in the health sector.
“The first on the syringes, drugs, pharmaceuticals and other devices, as you’ll recall, Mr President, in his wisdom, at the end of last year, in October, approved an initiative to unlock the healthcare value-chain and appointed coordinator for that. But we know that the price of pharmaceuticals have escalated and many entities have decided to withdraw and some of the local manufacturers in Nigeria are struggling.
“President’s intent is that we begin to take steps to enable the local manufacturers to survive, to thrive and to deliver the basic commodities that are key to saving their lives .
“And he directed that the Attorney General of the Federation work with us to come up with an Executive Order, which is the mechanism through which he will act, given the concern that he has that many Nigerians are suffering from the costs of pharmaceuticals, as well as other devices. That is the first important step and that should be coming very soon.
The minister also said to strengthen healthcare regulation and protect citizens, key regulatory bodies including the Medical and Dental Council will continue to receive funding, exception from cuts impacting other professional associations.
Also, to address the shortage of healthcare workers, Pate said council has delegated approval of recruitment waivers to the Health Ministry directly, explaining that this will accelerate hiring and reduce delays.
“The third is regarding the acute human resource shortage that we have. We know and having gone around many of our hospitals, particularly federal tertiary hospitals, the replacement of health workers that leave oftentimes takes a very long time because waiver process takes several stages.
