World Diabetes Day: Experts demand urgent reform

…commend proposed SSB tax

Public health experts and Nigerians living with diabetes have called on the federal government to take urgent steps to make life-saving medicines affordable for all, warning that rising costs have pushed diabetes care beyond the reach of most citizens.

The appeal followed the release of a new study by DGI Consult, supported by Gatefield, which revealed that inflation and stagnant incomes have deepened the economic burden of managing diabetes in Nigeria.

The findings, presented on Thursday at a high-level webinar to mark World Diabetes Day 2025, showed that the average cost of treatment has increased by over 400 percent in recent years, forcing many patients to skip doses, ration drugs, or abandon treatment entirely.

The experts at the webinar described the situation as a national crisis requiring urgent policy intervention.

They urged the government to adopt an Affordable Medicines Facility for Diabetes (AMFD), a multi-stakeholder funding and procurement mechanism that would reduce retail prices of insulin and other essential drugs.

While welcoming the proposed Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax by the government, they also called for targeted subsidy schemes for low-income earners, expansion of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) coverage to include all antidiabetic medicines and laboratory services, and support for local medicine production through tax incentives and low-interest loans.

Gatefield’s Research and Insight Lead, Farida Adamu, said Nigeria currently has the highest number of diabetes cases in Africa, warning that “inflation has risen from 11.37 percent in 2018 to over 34 percent by mid-2024.”

She noted that the cost of insulin has surged by more than 200 percent within two years, with many people now spending up to 90 percent of their income just to stay alive.

“For many, it’s a choice between buying food or medicine,” she said.

The study found that only Nigerians earning above ₦2.5 million annually can afford regular diabetes care without falling into debt.

For others, she said, managing the disease has become unsustainable, citing a respondent in the study who reported that insulin, which once cost ₦2,000, now sells for between ₦10,000 and ₦18,000, while monthly medication expenses have soared from ₦80,000 to ₦180,000.

Offering a clinical perspective, Prof. Felicia Anumah, Director of the Centre for Diabetes Studies at the University of Abuja, lamented that the government remains largely unaware of the suffering faced by ordinary Nigerians with diabetes.

Saying that many patients have stopped visiting hospitals because they can no longer afford transportation or medication, she noted, “Diabetes is expensive even without complications, but with complications, it becomes a nightmare.

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“A drug that used to cost ₦5,000 now costs ₦40,000, and many patients are dying silently because they can’t pay for treatment,” she said.

Anumah called for accountability mechanisms in any proposed treatment fund, saying accessibility and affordability must come first before transparency frameworks can work.

Sharing his personal struggle, Comrade Bernard Enyia, Vice President of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, said the high cost of drugs and diagnostic services has worsened his health after 15 years of living with the condition.

“I’ve had complications that required multiple treatments and scans. Even with insurance, the costs are unbearable,” he said.

Enyia, who co-chaired the coalition that pushed for Nigeria’s ₦10-per-litre tax on sugary drinks, urged the government to channel proceeds from the levy into diabetes prevention and treatment.

“It’s time for government intervention to prevent more lives from being lost because people can’t afford to live,” he said.

The public health experts emphasized that medicine affordability must be treated as an issue of national equity and economic stability.

Gatefield’s Public Health Lead, Omei Bongos-Ikwue, described the current situation as a quiet public health emergency, noting, “This research shows that without decisive action, more Nigerians will be priced out of treatment.

“The proposed Affordable Medicines Facility for Diabetes offers a sustainable path forward—one that protects lives, strengthens health systems, and ensures no one has to choose between eating and staying alive.”