The main objective of the National Medicines Policy is to make available at all times and in all sectors of the health care system, adequate supplies of medicines which are effective, affordable, safe and of good quality; and also to promote rational use of medicines. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which the population has access to medicines required to treat acute and chronic illnesses.

One state from each of the 6 geopolitical zones of the country was randomly sampled. Six reference health facilities were chosen from both urban and rural areas. Households were surveyed at less than 5km, between 5-10km and more than 10km from the reference facilities. Interviews were conducted in one thousand and eighty (1080) households using the newly Revised WHO household survey tool...