The Federal Government says it is working towards procuring essential medicines to provide succour for rising cost of medicines and healthcare products.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the commemoration of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day.

Pate said that the three-year Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain was unveiled a year ago to save lives, reduce physical and financial pain, and produce health for all Nigerians.

“In the medium and long term, the local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products and commodities will help reduce costs and ensure availability within the country. This contributes to UHC’s goal of reducing the financial burden of health services,” he stated.

The minister stated that government is undertaking deliberate and well-considered measures that will impact Nigeria’s economy positively and reduce both physical and financial pain, which aligns with the goal of the UHC to reduce out-of-pocket health expenditure and impoverishment from healthcare spending.

On health insurance, Prof Pate asserted that 2 million persons had been added, bringing the total to 8 million insured lives.

“Our administration has increased the number of lives enrolled in Health Insurance by 14% as of Q3 of 2024.

“This is a modest yet significant addition of 2 million persons to the pool in less than a year. It brings the total to 8 million insured lives. Since the scheme was launched in 2005, if we had 2 million lives enrolled every year, we would have had about 40 million Nigerians with health insurance coverage today,” Pate said.

The minister said that a whopping amount of ₦45.9bn has been disbursed through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, to assist indigent and vulnerable Nigerians access medical care without paying for it at the time and point of need.

“The equity funds by State Governments support care for its indigenes who are most in need. These funds complement the social sector interventions targeting these groups,” Pate added.

He also revealed Governments plan to purchase health for target groups whose insurance premiums are high.

“As of October 2024, we had successfully undertaken 879 obstetric fistula repairs across 19 centres in the country with a target of 2,500 before the year ends. This has restored the quality of lives of our women and their dignity,” he concluded.