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ACCESS TO MEDICINES IN NIGERIA – GENDER PERSPECTIVE

ACCESS TO MEDICINES IN NIGERIA – GENDER PERSPECTIVE. Ukamaka Gladys Okafor (B. Pharm , FPC Pharm , MPH) and Olanike Aderonke Adedeji ( BPharm , MBA). Problem Statement:. It has been estimated that one half of the African population lack access to the most basic medicinal remedies.

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ACCESS TO MEDICINES IN NIGERIA – GENDER PERSPECTIVE

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  1. ACCESS TO MEDICINES IN NIGERIA – GENDER PERSPECTIVE Ukamaka Gladys Okafor (B. Pharm, FPC Pharm, MPH) and Olanike Aderonke Adedeji (BPharm, MBA)

  2. Problem Statement: It has been estimated that one half of the African population lack access to the most basic medicinal remedies. Consisting of about 49% of the population of over 100 million (2005), most Nigerian women are poor, uneducated and reside in rural areas

  3. Objectives: This study focuses on the situation of Nigerian women’s access to medicines against a set of legally defined rights. The research aims primarily to explore how gender influences access to malaria management, HIV treatment and reproductive health including family planning techniques in Nigeria. Disparities between the different parts of the country and between rural versus urban populations were also explored.

  4. Design • The study was exploratory in nature and based on extensive review of literature because of the large pool of primary data available in the country. • The main sources of information were the 1990, 2003 and 2008 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey, with a total of 16,012 and 34,070 households surveyed by the Federal Office of Statistics and the National Population Commission in 2003 and 2008 respectively. • Other sources include the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) carried out nationwide by the Federal Office of Statistics in 1999 and several studies conducted by Society for Family Health (SFH).

  5. Design Cont’d • Attempts were made to compare the statistics on access from 1990-2003 to 2005-2008 to determine if there had been any significant differences. Efforts were also made to compare data available from 1999, 2003, and 2008 NDHS with data from 2003, 2005 and 2007 National HIV AIDS and Reproductive Health Surveys (NARHS). • The study was limited to internationally accepted research works conducted in Nigeria between 1990 and 2008 with particular reference to Malaria, HIV AIDS and Reproductive health

  6. Results • Access to reproductive health was measured by antenatal clinic attendance and household wealth in 1990 and was compared to 2008. • In 2008, only 42% of women who did not participate in any decision in the household accessed antenatal care from a health worker whereas 73.4% of women who participated in at least 3 key decisions in the household had accessed antenatal care from a health worker • According to the 2008 NDHS results, prompt treatment of fever increases with wealth quintile. The NARHS 2007 report shows that more females (4.0%) were infected than males (3.2%).

  7. Figure 1 - Comparison of access to RH services (ANC) by wealth percentile for women 1990 and 2008

  8. Discussion Barriers to preventive and curative health especially for Nigerian women include and are not limited to • Low income and poverty, • Long geographical distances to health facilities, • Low education (affecting health seeking behavior), • Rural locations (unequal distribution of health resources and concentration in urban locations, • Cultural barriers and gender issues, • Attitudes of health workers, • Ratio of health workers to population (leading to burnout), • Limited Government allocation to funding for health, • Decline in use of maternal services following introduction of user fees in 1994

  9. Conclusion and Policy Implication • Poor access to health services including medicines for women is mostly due to low income and poor level of education. • Lack of awareness of their rights and poverty makes it even less possible for women to assert such rights in a society where wealth and power are inexplicably linked. • Recommendations include increased Government funding for health insurance and health subsidies for women and children, increased Government commitment to female literacy, increased community awareness and age appropriate reproductive health education for women and girls, domestication of CEDAW into Nigeria system and deliberate policies to promote female participation in decision making, and training of Community Resource persons to provide basic health services in rural areas.

  10. Acknowledgement The study was supported by Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Society for Family Health and WOSERA by provision of data and technical support

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