Remove tariffs on essential drugs import now, DICOMAI urges FG

<p>Diabetes Control Media Advocacy Initiative (DICOMAI), a media-based non-governmental organisation, has called on the Federal government to consider the removal of import duties on essential medicines, especially for diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease, as an urgent measure to reduce the increased cost of managing these diseases in the country.</p>, <p>The organisation also urged both Federal and state governments to make diabetes management free to children and the elderly.</p>, <p>In a statement signed by its Chairman Board of Trustees, Dr Afoke Isiavwe and Executive Director, Sam Eferaro, DICOMAI decried the present high costs of drugs following the removal of fuel subsidy and other policies and urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, come up with measures to make drugs and other medical intervention affordable for the poor.</p>, <p>The statement reads: “We wish to draw his attention to the precarious situation people seeking health care are now facing. We believe, their plight can be urgently addressed through fresh policies that will impact directly on their conditions.</p>, <p>“At the moment access to health care in all parts of the country has become more difficult as the cost of life-saving drugs has gone beyond the reach of most Nigerians. The situation is worse for people suffering from serious conditions some of which require life-long treatment.</p>, <p>“Many people living with diabetes currently have their lives hanging in the balance as the condition is now more difficult than ever, to control now that the cost of drugs and monitoring devices are no longer affordable.</p>, <p>“Cases of parents not giving their children vital insulin at the right doses are now becoming rampant. For some people, they have been forced to stop taking their regular drugs and are at risk of developing serious complications.</p>, <p>“Indeed, it is common knowledge that more Nigerians both in the rural and urban areas are developing diabetes complications as a result of their inability to control their co