Diabetics turn to quacks, spiritualists over cost of drugs in Nigeria

The Nigerian Network of People with Diabetes has revealed that as the cost of diabetes medication increased, some of its members were turning to quacks and spiritualists for medical attention.

The request was made to the Cross River House of Assembly on Thursday in Calabar during a patient advocacy campaign led by Mr Bernard Enyia, National Coordinator of the Network of Persons Living with Diabetes in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that diabetes is a condition that happens when someone’s blood sugar (glucose) is too high; it develops when the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin or any at all.

Enyia, who appealed for urgent action on the insulin crisis in Cross River and beyond, said the cost of essential diabetes medicine such as insulin had skyrocketed from N3,500 in 2022 to N26,000 in 2024.

He said glucometers now cost N30,000 and test strips have increased to N15,000, adding that an average person living with diabetes spends over N150,000 monthly on treatment, which had subjected them to untold hardship.

“The economic downtown and inflation in the country have forced many of our members to abandon their prescribed drugs to cheaper alternatives from chemists, spiritualists and trado-medical drug vendors.

“This has led to more and more complications for our people as many are breaking down, some are dying, increasing the number of widows widowers and orphans, while the state and Federal governments are not doing much about curbing the menace of diabetes.

“The essence of this activity is to cry out to the government to earmark a percentage of the budget to tackle diabetes care because up till now, there is zero per cent of Cross River budget that is meant for diabetes,” he said.

Responding, Mrs Kate Ubi, Clerk Cross River House of Assembly who spoke to the campaigners in the absence of the Speaker of the house, said the members of the house were out of Calabar for an official engagement.

Ubi appealed to the diabetic patients to send their representatives to come back to the house from 2nd September, to have a better and robust engagement with the speaker and other legislators.

NAN also reports that the campaign which started from the complex of the state Ministry of Health saw the patients distributing flyers on the plight of an average diabetic in the nation following the hike in the price of medication.