ABSTRACT
Access to essential healthcare services and essential medicine is acutely impaired in Nigeria. The inability to access essential healthcare services is compounded by extreme poverty present in Nigeria. About 40% of the population (more than 82 million Nigerians) live below the poverty line. Yet, only about 5% of Nigerians are enrolled under the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), leaving millions of Nigerians without any viable means to pay for healthcare services. The problem of non-access to essential medicine in Nigeria is gaining more attention in relation to two diseases; the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and cancer. Nigeria’s HIV prevalence is high and its cancer burden is considerable and growing. Access to essential medicine is adjudged by availability and affordability. Cancer treatment is unaffordable and outside the reach of Nigerians and the continued availability of antiretroviral drugs is threatened by Nigeria’s immoderate dependence on donor funding for its HIV intervention. This chapter explores how the patent system can be utilised to enhance access to essential drugs and sustain the availability of antiretroviral drugs. It also examines the extent to which the Nigerian patent law permits Nigeria to take advantage of the flexibilities available under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS). It makes recommendations on how the intellectual property system can be effectively used to balance private rights and the public interest, as it relates to public health.
