• Edward Faiva, Hashim Talib Hashim, Mustafa Ahmed Ramadhan, Shingin Kovona Musa, John Bchara, Yahya Dheyaa Tuama, Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi, Mustafa Hayder Kadhim, Mohammad Yasir Essar, Shoaib Ahmad, and Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno.
• Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
• J Pharm Policy Pract. 2021 Jan 22; 14 (1): 17.

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in massive disruptions in global supply chains. Nigeria is particularly vulnerable with respect to pharmaceuticals since there is reduced local production and about 70% of the drug supply is imported creating a huge supply-demand disparity particularly in times like COVID-19. Nigeria is in need of huge quantities of quality-assured health commodities to effectively respond to the pandemic. Significant shortages of other essential medicines and medical products across the country could be imminent. Drug scarcity in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic period is because of several accumulated factors, majorly as a result of global lockdown, decreased manufacturing, unaddressed regulatory affairs, poor access to resources by the population, lack of buffer stocks, security instability, and poor funding of the healthcare system. This situation if left unattended, could cause serious drawbacks to the health of the populace as well as the quality of life of Nigerians amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. Appropriate measures should be directed to ensure ethical processes on drug production, importation, pricing, and distribution to avoid such events during unavoidable scenarios, like the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies.

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