Michel Deelen, the Netherlands Consul-General in Lagos, has emphasised the need to equip Dutch companies in Nigeria with the right market knowledge, to enable them better collaborate with stakeholders in the nation’s healthcare sector.
Deelen, at a workshop he hosted to validate the “Nigerian health sector market study” held recently in Lagos, said: “We want to see new partnerships, but to start this, we need the information to know what and where the opportunities are.”
Ngozi Azodoh, director, department of research, planning and statistic, federal ministry of health, in her remarks, highlighted the importance of building and investing in Nigeria’s own healthcare systems, to diminish medical tourism.
“It’s time to think of ways to bridge the gap in the Nigerian health sector through investments, so as to curb medical tourism”, she said.
On his part, Akin Abayomi, Lagos State commissioner for health, gave a run-down of the key findings of the market study and how they apply to the state. He emphasised matters pertaining to infrastructure investment, brain drain, the pharmaceutical market, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and domestic vaccine manufacturing. He concluded by saying “we must be innovative, and design according to our environment”.
A presentation by PharmAccess Foundation at the workshop, showed high-level findings and outlined the key objectives of the study, some of which included highlighting business cases recommendable for consideration by the Dutch Life-Science-Health (LSH) firms, making inputs where possible, and suggesting how Dutch LSH firms can position as Nigeria’s most innovative partners in healthcare development.
The presentation described Nigeria as an attractive investment destination where external players and partners study our markets daily and make investment decisions based on their findings.
Njide Ndili, country director, PharmAccess, lauded the Netherlands Consulate in Lagos for being intentional and wilful in improving Nigeria’s healthcare system.
“I have never encountered a dedicated group of people that are truly very engaged in improving healthcare in Nigeria like the Netherlands Consulate,” Ndili said.
She asserted that no individual pillar could transmute the healthcare industry single-handedly, which is why everything PharmAccess does is interrelated and connected in a holistic manner.
The Netherlands Consulate commissioned PharmAccess Foundation to conduct a market research study on the Nigerian health sector to provide stakeholders, including the Dutch top sector Life-Science-Health (LSH) with an understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the Nigerian health sector and highlight ways to influence the healthcare market positively.
Areas of interest included health infrastructure investments, medical tourism, health insurance, telemedicine, the Nigerian pharmaceutical markets, and other areas where prospective Dutch companies can add the most value.
