EXTRA: Medplus store adds ‘Ijebu garri’, ‘kuli kuli’ to items for sale

Garri and other related groceries have been added to the items on sale in one of Medplus’ stores located at the Ikeja City Mall, Lagos state.

Medplus Pharmacy is a wholesale retail and dispensing pharmaceutical organisation, founded in 1993 for the distribution and retailing of locally manufactured and imported drugs.

Aside from garri, findings by TheCable showed the pharmacy has a shelf dedicated to kuli-kuli, chips, peanuts, and other food items.

Meanwhile, prices of medicines at pharmacies have skyrocketed amid the planned exits of some drug producers from the Nigerian market.

On August 3, 2023, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Nigeria Plc, announced it would cease operation in the country by terminating its marketing and distribution agreement and appointing a third-party distributor to sell its medications and vaccines.

GSK is the producer of vaccines such as Ambirix for hepatitis A&B, Cervarix for human papillomavirus bivalent 16 & 18, cancer drugs such as Zejula and other general medicines like Amoxil and Augmentin.

Sanofi, another foreign pharmaceutical company, also announced on November 8, 2023, it would leave Nigeria.

However, Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on September 16, 2023, said GSK Nigeria’s shutdown is not responsible for the surge in drug prices, rather, the naira devaluation is driving the hike.

Adeyeye said foreign exchange scarcity has also had a significant impact on international pharmaceutical companies.

In an attempt to bring down the prices of drugs, Ali Pate, minister of health, on January 17, 2024, said the federal government would issue an executive order to control pharmaceutical pricing.