Despite Nigeria’s rapid population growth rate that has helped in attracting investments into healthcare industry, system infrastructural gaps and poor business structure in the healthcare sector have continued to be a challenge hindering growth of the sector.
The experts opine that the problem in the health sector is not only inadequate funding but the country’s inefficiency to effectively implement policies, workforce brain drain, medical tourism, inability to capture larger percentage of the population under the health insurance scheme and counterfeit drugs among others.
“Human resources, affordability and proper structure are three critical issues that need to be in place before Nigeria’s health sector can grow the way it designed to be,” said Abubakar Suleiman, managing director, Sterling Bank, who spoke at the first E- health meeting held recently in Lagos.
According to Suleiman, medical professionals in Nigeria are majorly one man’s business, so we have thousands of micro hospitals that cannot effectively and efficiently deliver healthcare services to Nigerians.
“Your skill as a doctor does not play an important role in good business. The problem with Nigeria is that, we combine practicing medicine profession with the business of healthcare because nobody is looking at the business of healthcare,” he said
“When the talent that you need to succeed is individual, many of the private hospitals functioning are not sustainable as they lack the proper structure to run profitable healthcare businesses,” he added.
The aim of the ecosystem meetup series is to create a community of actors consisting of start- ups, investors, healthcare institute who are investing in the growth and developing policy that encourages collaboration and partnership seeking to promote innovation in Nigeria’s health care.
Also speaking during the meet-up, Obinnia Abajue, chief executive officer of Hygeia Health Management Organisation’s says that poverty, mobility, culture, quality and policy are the financial barriers to effective healthcare delivery in the country, noting that Nigerians living in this circle are all behavioural driven.
Abajue added that health insurance is about removing payment as a consideration at the point of care for patient and physician. “Creating products for the specific needs of various Nigerians is one of the ways we are changing the healthcare system. We are ensuring every Nigerian is getting quality health coverage with our various plans,” he said.
Debo Odulana, co –founder and chief executive officer Doctoora, said that Nigeria need to increases access and quality of safety in the sector, by looking at the building blocks of governance, healthcare financing and information and technology.
“Working with private sectors, start- ups can give strategic decision to grow the health sector and drive the impact faster,” Dare Odumdae, Founder and CEO of Chekkit Technologies.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
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