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Echoes of COVID-19 phobia

By Innocent Duru

  • Prices skyrocket as demand for anti-malaria, immunity-boosters soars
  • Pharmacists warn of worsening mortality, morbidity rates from self-medication

There is an exponential increase in the demand for immune-boosting, anti-malaria and cough drugs among Nigerians as the number of people testing positive for the Coronavirus pandemic rises on a daily basis.

Despite denials in many quarters about the prevalence and spread of the pandemic in the country, checks showed that many Nigerians are not leaving anything to chance and are doing everything they can to avoid testing positive for the virus.

Pharmacists who spoke with our correspondent described increased demand for the aforementioned drugs as a fallout of the fear of Covid-19 infection.

The National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Samuel Adekola, responded in the affirmative when asked if there has been a rise in demand for the aforementioned drugs.

“Yes, for sure,” he said, adding: “There has been an increase in demand, particularly for immune-boosting products. Vitamin C is particularly in high demand and that is why the price is almost double what it was.

“There is also a rise in the price of products like zinc. All the immune-boosting medications have had their prices go up.”

The ACPN boss also said there is also an increased demand for malaria drugs at pharmacy level. This, according to him, is also directly related to the outbreak of Covid-19.

He said: “People’s immune system comes down when they are not active. When people sit down in the house and they are not exposed to natural vitamin D that they would have got from early morning sunlight, it naturally brings the immune system down.

“When you are active, in terms of working and sweating, you tend to have your immunity enhanced.

“The fact that people have been sitting down at home doing nothing has contributed a whole lot to manifestation of disease conditions and, of course, malaria is one of the victims of those situations.

“Generally speaking, there is a rise in demand, which is not unexpected.”

Adekola is convinced that the steps being taken by people to boost their immune system have helped many to develop resistance to the virus.

“For sure, it would have had its own place. That is the truth,” he said.

“Don’t forget that it is on record that less than 10 per cent of people who contract this infection would have serious manifestation. Majority of the people are asymptomatic; that is they would not show any symptom before they overcome it because of the state of their immune system.”

Why more men are infected than women

Adekola noted that frequent consumption of micro nutrients might be the reason why fewer women get infected.

He said: “One presumptive judgment I have been able to make as a scientist (not that we have done any serious scientific inference on it) is that when you look at the number of persons that are infected, you tend to find that more males are infected than females. The women take more of the medications than men.

“For reasons peculiar to them, women take some of these products long before COVID 19 because some of them believe that certain products make them more beautiful, tend to renew their cycles and all that.

“When you look at the percentage of people that come to pharmacy to buy some of these micro-nutrients, majority of them are women. That could have formed the reason for having more males infected by COVID-19 than females. It shows that in immunity fortification by women are playing out in large percentages.”

Visits to some pharmacies showed that some of the medications have become scarce while the prices of some others have skyrocketed.

Explaining the cause of the price hike, Adekola said: “Don’t forget that these products are also in high demand in other countries and even in those places where they are manufactured.

“There was a time India prohibited the exportation of those products because they were trying to conserve them for their own citizens. Consequently, demand rose for the few ones that were available. It is a law of demand and supply.

“One thing we have noticed is that there is even more demand for these products, particularly Hydroxychloroquine, by people who are outside the country.

“People buy and send it to their loved ones in other countries. That is a critical aspect and one of the factors responsible for the rise in prices. I know that the price of hydroxychloroquine went as high as 1,000 per cent of the old price.”

Before the pandemic, he said, hydroxychloroquine of 20 tablets pack was in the range of N1,500.

“But lately, we got to know that it has gone as high as N15,000. It is really very bad. Zinc is also not spared. The price of zinc has doubled.”

Lagos State Chairman of ACPN,  Olabanji Obideyi, also saidd there had been increased demand for the drugs.

Obideyi said: “Since the pandemic broke out, there has been an increase in demand for those kinds of drugs, particularly Vitamin C 1000 milligram. There is a great upsurge in the demand for it.  As it is now, the demand is more than the supply.

“When you go to most of the retail pharmacies, it is not even available.

“For Chloroquine, the demand rose at the beginning when Trump made a release that Hydroxychloroquine could take care of the virus.

“There was an upsurge in demand. The company hiked the price and that had an effect on the price that we actually give it out. Now I think the demand has dropped.”

Obideyi expressed concern about the scarcity of some of the medications, regretting that there is nothing they as pharmacists can do to address the challenge.

He said” “Our job stops at making the drugs available to the patients. We don’t manufacture drugs. Most of the drugs you are talking about are not manufactured in Nigeria.

“Vitamin C, to some extent, is manufactured here. But majority of the other drugs are imported.  At ACPN, we are just a gap between the importers, distributors and the patients.”

Government, he said, needs to look for ways of increasing the capacity of the indigenous companies “so that we can be self- sufficient in that area.

“All these problems we are having now is because of what happened in China. China happens to be the source of most of the active pharmaceutical ingredients.

“What happened in China had a bandwagon effect on Nigeria and some other countries.

“The results that China has didn’t come overnight. The Chinese government pumps money into research to develop new drugs and vaccines. We can follow suit here.

“There are over 20 pharmacy schools and close to five or seven research institutes here. The government needs to fund them very well so that they can turn out drugs that are needed by the people.

“If we keep depending on importation, if anything happens to the source, we will be seriously affected.”

Corroborating his colleagues, the Public Relations Officer for Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ondo State chapter, Adebola Lawal, said: “There is an upsurge in the demand for immune-enhancing medications. We have witnessed this. Clients are coming to ask for drugs that can enhance their immune status.

“At the initial period, we also experienced abysmal upsurge in the demand for  hydroxychloroquine and a typical anti-malaria.

“The rise in demand for immune boosters and chloroquine is associated with COVID-19.  There are other classes of drugs that are used for the treatment of malaria.

“Malaria is one of the sicknesses ravaging us in Nigeria. So there has always been a persistent demand for anti-malaria drugs. Prices have skyrocketed.

“Over 70 per cent of our medications are imported from China and India. Because of COVID 19 outbreak, companies are not producing to their capacity.”

Proffering solution to the challenges bedeviling the sector, he said: “Government just needs to encourage us to look inward.

“Of course, we are aware that recently, the government approved the sum of N100 billion as intervention funds for pharmaceutical companies, but how to  access the fund is a big headache.

“We have some of the things we need to produce some of these drugs, but the support system to turn them to viable medication is the problem we have.

PSN president, other pharmacists share experiences

A member of the ACPN, Mr. Nimnan Wuyep, described the rise in demand for medications as secretive.

He said: “People are shy to tell you that they have cough. Somebody you are seeing literally is having cough is shy to admit it.

“Now, somebody can come and buy three different drugs at different times the same day. Like somebody who wants to treat cold and catarrh, because he is perceiving that he is having an infection, he will come and say give me malaria drugs and any antibiotics. When you ask what is the issue, he would say just give me antibiotics.

“Some will come and smartly say, give me catarrh medicine. As you are bringing out the medication, they ask: ‘Can it take care of cough too?’

“That is what I experience in my practice place and I believe that my colleagues are going through the same thing.

“The demand is gradually going up but it is secretive. Demand for immune-boosting drugs are 100 per cent or more. “

Also sharing her experience with patients at her place of operation, the Chairman of ACPN in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Abasiama Uwatt, said there is actually a rise in demand for immune-boosting medications.

He said: “I have not noticed anything significant about the demand for cough syrups other than that this season generally, because of the weather there has been an increased demand for cold and catarrh drugs. There hasn’t been an increase in anti-malaria.

“With the pandemic we are facing right now, the recovery rate has been linked to how strong one’s immune system is. So a lot of people have embraced increased use of supplements to boost their immune system as well as improve their hygiene levels.“

But she believes that the price hike has nothing to do with increased  demand.

”What has really led to the increase in price is scarcity. During the lockdown, it was difficult to get products into the country.

“You are also aware that the exchange rate has gone up. The drugs consequently became scarce, and as a result, the prices went up.”

The President of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, warned of the dangers inherent in people not having access to the medications they need to take care of their health.

In its quest to contain the Coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government had approved a waiver on import duties for all medical equipment and supplies into the country, leaving out essential drugs.

The move has been condemned by pharmaceutical importers and pharmacists who feel the decision wasn’t good for the sector.

The PSN boss said: “Last week, we were at the National Assembly for a meeting with one of the committees. What the government did was to give waiver to selected items related to Covid-19.

“We made them to understand that other pharmaceutical products are also affected. We are getting palliatives for food but we are not getting for medicine which is the next important thing.

“We asked if the government could remove import waivers for all pharmaceutical products for the next six months in order to bring down the prices.

“What is important for me now is to see that drugs are generally available and cheap for Nigerian patients who have no money to buy. They are locked down, and have their businesses affected.”

Explaining the implications of not having drugs readily available for the people at affordable prices, Ohuabunwa said: “Many patients will skip their medications. If you don’t have the money, what are you going to do?

“When people skip their medications we have increased morbidity or mortality. They may be compelled to go and buy cheap products which may be fake.

“When you are looking for cheaper products that your money can afford, you may end up buying fake ones. This would hurt their health.  This is why it is an issue.

“We wrote a position paper on this for the government to increase the waiver to include as many pharmaceutical products as possible.

“I bought a pack of Vitamin C, 1000mg for N7,000. I said wow, even me? That was something that I used to buy for N3,000. The price never went beyond N3,500 before now.”
