Former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi has said that most households in Nigeria now resort to prayers when they are sick, instead of procuring medicines to treat themselves.

Obi stated this on Wednesday at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, while delivering a keynote address during the 6th Public Lecture of the Board of Fellows, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (BOF-PSN).

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He bemoaned the state of the nation’s health sector saying many pharmaceutical companies have left the country, making drugs very expensive for the poor, which is reason most homes now resort to prayers.

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Obi, who was the keynote at the event with the theme, ‘Access to Quality Medicine in An Unstable Environment’, said rather than partner local pharmaceutical industries for manufacturing of high quality drugs, government has instead been issuing licences for importation of drugs and collection of revenues from the importers.

“I visited a primary health centre in an outskirt of Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and, discovered that there were 50 pregnant women in the hospital, and, there was just one medical staff attending to them.

“There are about 24,000 primary health centres in the country, but how many of them are functional?

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“The allocation to health as contained in the current national budget is nothing to write home about. There is need to prioritise issues concerning health such that in addition to providing health insurance to all the citizens, there should be a deliberate policy by government to ensure local production of drugs and medicines.

“We need to dismantle the type of leadership we have in the country, and, everyone must show commitment to install a government that will provide good governance, otherwise, we can’t move forward.

“The prices of drugs today are so high that in most homes, the only good medicine they know is prayers. We can not continue like this,” he said.

Earlier, the chairman BOF-PSN, Dr Joel E. B. Adagadzu praised Obi for his commitment and sacrifices in championing the crusade for a new Nigeria.

He stated that pharmacists in the country are also committed to improving the health sector in the country.