Rising drug prices worsen Nigeria’s diabetes crisis
Health experts in Nigeria have expressed concern over the surging cases of diabetes in the country, warning that soaring drug prices are putting life-saving treatment out of reach for millions of patients.
Their concerns follow a World Health Organisation (WHO) report showing that the number of adults living with diabetes has quadrupled over the past three decades, with nearly half unable to access the medicines they need.
Once regarded as a condition of the affluent, diabetes is now increasingly common among both the rich and poor, in rural and urban areas alike, and among younger age groups.
According to Professor Zubairu Ilyasu of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, “More than 11 million Nigerians are living with diabetes, many of them undiagnosed.”
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) puts prevalence at nearly six per cent of the adult population, but doctors warn the true figure is higher due to weak surveillance.
“The numbers we are seeing are alarming. We now diagnose patients in their thirties and forties with complications that used to appear only later in life. It reflects how lifestyle changes, urbanisation and poor diets are fuelling this epidemic,” said Dr Olufemi Fasanmade, professor of medicine and consultant endocrinologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
The WHO’s 2024 Global Diabetes Report noted that cases have quadrupled worldwide since 1990, rising from about seven per cent of adults to nearly 14 per cent in 2022.
That translates to more than 800 million people living with the condition, of whom almost 450 million remain untreated.
Nigeria, according to the WHO, is among the most vulnerable countries, with millions going without essential medicines despite rising diagnosis rates.
“Diabetes has become one of the defining health challenges of our time. We cannot stand by while life-saving medicines remain out of reach for millions. The time for governments to act decisively is now,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted.
In Nigeria, however, even as awareness of the disease grows, treatment remains out of reach for many families because of the soaring cost of drugs.
Insulin, discovered more than a century ago but still the backbone of diabetes care, is priced well beyond what most households can afford. A vial costs between N7,000 and N12,000 depending on the brand and location, and many patients require two or three vials each month.
This means that a patient may need N30,000 to N35,000 monthly just to survive, in a country where the minimum wage is barely enough to feed the stomach against hunger in a month.
The newer GLP-1 receptor agonists, which regulate blood sugar and reduce complications, cost upwards of N80,000 a month, making them accessible only to the wealthy.
Doctors warn that, beyond the high drug costs, systemic weaknesses in Nigeria’s health sector are worsening the situation.
