Collaborate to grow Africa’s healthcare system, Minister urges practitioners
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, has urged healthcare practitioners to prioritise Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as a viable approach to grow Africa’s healthcare system.
Salako made the appeal during the Healthcare Leadership Conference session at the World Health Expo organised by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
The conference has the theme: “Enabling Market Access and Investment Readiness to Drive Health System Transformation.”
The three-day healthcare exhibition had exhibitors and companies across the African continent in attendance.
According to him, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has remained a vital instrument to drive healthcare financing.
Highlighting some of the Federal Government’s efforts towards healthcare development, Salako called for stronger synergy among health players to boost healthcare delivery financing and standard.
He assured of government’s commitment to continued partnership, describing the event as one of the Africa’s most impactful programme.
“Sustainable and standard healthcare system requires a stronger public-private partnership.
“Africa has great expertise and resources that can be better harnessed through collaboration.
Regarding the level of Nigeria’s preparedness to prevent transmission of Ebola in the country, Salako said there was ongoing high level surveillance at all entry points (borders) of the country.
Speaking, the Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said that state government had embarked on the process of healthcare financial reform aimed at granting every Lagos resident access to quality healthcare.
Abayomi explained that the state’s health insurance scheme would not only reduce out-of-pocket healthcare financing and promote access to care, but would also enhance investment in the sector and improve quality of life.
According to him, there are varieties of health insurance packages across both public and private healthcare facilities, saying that is a way of promoting synergy between the two sectors.
“The state government is now in the process of healthcare financial reform, where we are promoting the uptake of insurance by all our citizens, so that people have a safety guard in their pocket as sickness cannot be predicted.
“We are working with the regulators to make sure that these insurance packages are fair and standardised for the environment.
“And that will drive the whole issue around supply and demand of healthcare,” Abayomi said.
The Exhibition Manager, Daniel Green, said the expo brought together healthcare manufacturers, policymakers and international companies, to deliberate and shape healthcare market across the African continent.
According to him, there is huge economic hub in Africa capable of expanding the healthcare market.
“There are a lot of international audience in the exhibition with over 300 exhibitors including China, India, Pakistan, Morocco, USA, United Kingdom among others.
“I believe in the next three days, the exhibitors are going to see a lot of success from a very enthusiastic market coming here,” Green said.
The Keynote Speaker at the event, Prof. Aliko Ahmed, Special Regional Representative, West Africa RCC, underscored the need to improve the quality/standard of African products.
He urged African manufacturers to prioritise standard, describing quality as key access to market.
Earlier, the HFN President, Ms Njide Ndili, reiterated the need to strengthen healthcare system through collaboration among stakeholders in the sector.
According to her, the exhibition aims to promote healthcare market consumables, equipment and services across Africa.
