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00:00 Nigerian Sadiq Ajibade suffers from asthma, but he can no longer afford some of his medication.
00:07 That's because the price of some medicine has risen almost tenfold in the past few months.
00:13 Pharmaceutical industry officials said the plunge in the value of the Naira after the
00:18 removal of currency controls in June has sent prices of new stocks rocketing.
00:25 And with British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline moving from GSK-controlled local operating
00:30 companies in Nigeria to a third-party direct distribution model, some industry officials
00:36 said this was also adding to woes, which GSK denied.
00:40 "To be honest, let me not lie, I have reduced the dosage. I used to buy three medicines
00:47 prescribed to me when I was staying in Bahriga, but now I have reduced it to two. That is
00:54 penicillin and aminophiline that I know is very powerful and works for me. Those are
00:59 the ones I buy now because of the costs."
01:04 A serotide asthma inhaler manufactured by GSK cost up to 8,000 Naira in April. That's
01:11 just under $9.50. Now it retails for up to 70,000 Naira. That's over $87.
01:20 Research firm Statista says only 3% of Nigerians have health insurance, meaning patients must
01:25 find the money themselves to buy medication.
01:28 Siro Yusifo, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, said most drugs were imported,
01:34 while local makers relied on imports for the pharmaceutical ingredients to produce medicines.
01:40 "We are worried that other multinationals, hopefully they won't follow the route of GSK.
01:48 We have been hearing a few who have been signalling that they want to leave and then get a third
01:54 party to be detailing their product, which is not good news for us."
01:58 Faced with soaring drug prices, some Nigerians say they have to resort to traditional cures.
02:05 Nigeria's Health Ministry and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
02:10 did not respond to requests for comment. A GSK spokesperson said foreign currency shortages
02:17 had affected its ability to maintain a consistent supply of medicines and vaccines in the market,
02:23 leading to stock-outs.
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