FG establishes MediPool to lower cost of essential medicines

The federal executive council (FEC) has approved the establishment of MediPool, a purchasing organisation.

Pate said the organisation will offer competitive pricing and supply essential medicines and healthcare products across Nigeria.

He said MediPool will function as a public-private partnership, leveraging the federal government’s significant purchasing power to negotiate better prices from suppliers.

He added that it would be established through the federal government’s basic healthcare provision fund and eventually through federal tertiary hospitals.

“So it’s using the monopsony power of government as a large buyer of those commodities to negotiate lower prices and then channel those commodities,” he said.

“The scope includes procurement planning, distribution monitoring, supply chain, logistics management, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, as well as ensuring that local manufacturers are supported.

“It also covers import substitution, financial management and payment systems, capacity building and training, and contingency planning to ensure steady availability of essential drugs through public-private partnership.”

He said Medipool has been vetted through the infrastructure concession regulatory commission and benchmarked with other global group purchasing organisations in Kenya, South Africa, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and many other countries.

“We believe that this is a major intervention that will shape the domestic market, so that the demand for quality pharmaceuticals can be channelled in a way that lowers cost and also improves quality and stimulates local manufacturing,” he added.

Pate said for almost a year and a half, the government had been trying different ways to reduce the costs of pharmaceutical products because Nigerians were hurting from rising costs.

“It’s not limited to Nigeria. As you may be aware, even countries as far as the United States are placing executive orders to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals,” he said.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order reducing prices of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals by 30 to 80 percent.

If pharmaceutical companies respond to US price caps by limiting supply or raising prices elsewhere, this could disrupt the availability or affordability of certain drugs in Nigeria, particularly branded or specialty medicines.

Meanwhile, FEC also approved a contract worth N2.3 billion for the procurement and installation of a cardiac catheterisation machine at the Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto state.

Pate said the advanced medical equipment will enhance the hospital’s capacity to diagnose and treat complex heart conditions such as heart attacks and irregular heart rhythms.