Nigerian patients feel pain of soaring drug prices
WHEN Sodiq Ajibade emerged from a Lagos pharmacy holding asthma medication, one drug on his prescription was missing because he did not have the money to buy it. The price of some medicines has risen almost tenfold in Nigeria in the past few months, forcing patients like Ajibade to cut his doses or turn to traditional alternatives. Pharmaceutical industry officials said the plunge in the value of the naira after the removal of currency controls in June has sent prices of new stocks rocketing. British drugmaker GSK is moving from GSK-controlled local operating companies in Nigeria to a third-party direct distribution model.…