Bisi Bright is the vice chairman and CEO of Live Well Initiative , a health literacy non-profit organisation that caters to the wellness of people. In an interview with Oluwatobi Balogun,she speaks extensively on health policies, Nigeria’s stress level and how to balance work and life.
What birthed the LiveWell Initiative?
The LiveWell Initiative LWI was birthed out of the need to address the low levels of health literacy in society, and to reduce avoidable deaths, thereby increasing overall life expectancy among the people.
Do you think Nigeria is a healthy country, what is LWI doing to make Nigeria healthy?
Nigeria is rated very poorly on the global scale when it comes to health; there is, therefore, no doubt about the fact that the country is not healthy. Considering that health is not merely the absence of disease but a complete state of physical, emotional, psychological and even social wellbeing (WHO definition) there is a lot that can be done to improve the health of the country and its people.
In that vein, LWI has put in place several population-targeted programmes aimed at improving the health of the people. These range from Gender Health Programmes to Community Health Outreaches, Free Public Health Fairs, Illness Poverty Alleviation, Schools Health Programmes, and Executive Health Programmes, to Capacity Development in Healthcare, improving the quality and service of healthcare providers. Many of the LWI programmes are unique and the organisation has won local and international awards in CSR, HSE and Community Health.
What do you think of the Wellness Industry in Nigeria?
Wellness is a component of healthcare which is needed by all, but is not well understood and therefore not given the desired attention. The Wellness Industry in Nigeria is still young, immature and not well defined. People do not really understand the concept of Wellness and they usually wait until they fall sick before they do anything about their health. The government has a public health role to play in sensitising the public to wellness, through the media – publicity, billboards, etc. The organised private sector is also a stakeholder as they employ the workforce. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce therefore if employers embraced a Wellness Policy, they would enjoy a boisterous and productive workforce. Every well meaning organisation should have in place a Wellness Policy, for its employees’ wellbeing.
Does LWI have programmes that target specific health sectors in Nigeria? Please mention
Yes, as earlier suggested, LWI has several programmes which cut across the health sector and overlap with education, water and other sectors, in line with SDGs 1,3,4,5,6, and 17 . Most of the programmes are population targeted programmes, and they cut across various aspects of the health sector as follows:
Primary and Preventive Healthcare :
– Community Health Outreaches, Rural Health and Farmers’ Health Programme
– Personal Hygiene, Handwashing and Etiquette Programme
– Gender Health Programme, Maternal and Child Health Programme, Women’s Health and Cancer Screening Programme (Breast and Cervical), Nutrition Programme
– Easyhealth Home Healthcare Services
– Health, Safety and Environment Programme
– Sickbays, Slum Clinic Project
– Schools’ Health Programmes
Promotive Healthcare:
– Executive Health Seminars
– Work-Life Balance Programmes
– Workplace Wellness Programmes
– Corporate Health Fairs
– NCDs NonCommunicable Disease Advocacy, Awareness, Screening and Management
– Hepatitis B & C Advocacy, Awareness, Screening and Treatment Facilitation Programme
– Cervical, Breast and Prostrate Cancer Advocacy Awareness, Screening and Treatment Facilitation Programme
– Sports Medicine
– Corporate Cross-Cutting Expositions
Curative Healthcare:
– Corporate Sickbays
– Industrial Sickbays
– Slum Clinics
Health Sector Capacity Development:
– Training Programmes for Healthcare Professionals
– Training Programmes for Managers
– American Red Cross Certification Training in First Aid CPR and Basic Life Support
– Healthcare Assistants’ Training
– Cervical VIA Training
– Wellness Champions’ Training
– Management and Organisational Behavior
– Responsibility Accountability and Authority
As a renowned pharmacist, what’s your take on drug misuse and abuse in Nigeria?
At LWI, we run a Schools’ Drug Abuse, Misuse and Disuse Programme which has been very impactful. It is important to ‘catch them young’. However, going into the larger population, we know that drug abuse, misuse and disuse are a menace not only in our country but all over the world. The Nigerian situation is further compounded by the weakened regulatory system, duplication of roles in the regulatory sector leading to ambiguity, and the lack of enforcement. Where the laws are not enforced there is more likelihood that they will be taken for granted. I feel strongly that government should provide support for the regulatory bodies through enforcement, and all the areas of ambiguity and overlaps should be clarified. In addition, there should be a concerted effort to teach the public the importance of appropriate use of medicines ,as a lot of people abuse or misuse medicines without knowing that they are doing so. The concept of drug abuse should be inculcated into schools curricula; this would help children to desist from peer pressure in their formative years. The NDLEA should have a collaboration with NAFDAC. Pharmacists also need to play a more visible role in drug abuse counselling and drug use education to the general public. Families need to stay together as it has been scientifically proven that disintegrated families contribute in bno small measure to the drug abuse menace.
What health sector policies are not in place, as an NGO do you experience some of these inadequacies?
The government is very good in putting in place policies, however there is Always a challenge when it comes to implementation. I would not say that there are policy gaps, however there are a lot of implementation gaps due to protocol, beaurecracy and sometimes personal vested interests. If a Policy is laid down, but it is not operationalized; it will be impossible to implement it. This is because the operationalization allows the processes to be spely out, and it also allows for uniformity in implementation. By government standards, a lot of beaurocracy comes in, and this dampens the speed and drive; so most times implementation is stalled. My suggestion is that government should set up implementation committees for policies immediately such policies are formulated; and, at the point of formulation the Policy should be operationalized through targets. A good example is the SDGs at the global level; there are Goals (Policies) and measurable targets are used to operationalize the goals; the Policy also has a timeframe for implementation. We should adopt such a style. Having said that, the most conspicuous Policy Gap noticeable is the lack of a Policy on the Health of the Common Man. We should have a Common Man Health Policy which alleviates the out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure of the common man. Such a Policy will allow the common man to have access to basic healthcare at a mobile ‘basic healthcare facility’ which can be run as a free public health fair; something like what the past Governor of Lagos did at the time, but on a lower and more affordable scale. If government had such a policy, up to 85% of healthcare needs of the common man would be taken care of; malaria, cough, cold, catarrh, diarrhoea, and other minor symptoms which usually result in unnecessary crowding in hospitals. This Policy can be implemented by government in partnership with Companies located in the geographical areas, along with NGOs and CSOs in the geographical areas. Next to this should be a Minor Surgeries Policy where minor surgeries are carried out on a designated day every month, free of charge, in designated government health centres located in all local government areas and awrds around the country, in partnership with NGOs and CSOs in the geographical areas. All of these should be covered under a government grant created to attract the private sector involvement in healthcare; where private sector contributors to the scheme can enjoy tax holidays.
If the government can take care of basic symptoms and basic minor surgeries through a new Policy, the crowding at hospitals will diminish, the health system will be more efficient and the health of the nation will improve drastically, leading to enhanced productivity, enhanced innovation, enhanced GDP and emancipation for all Nigerians.
The government should also operationalize existing policies without waiting for donors e.g. Hepatitis Policy, and other new Health Policies should be driven through the Private Sector, PPPs, CSOs, and the People. Thank you.
Nigeria is generally referred to as a stressful country, what are the pointers to stress and how can it be avoided…Specifically which sectors is stress prevalent in?
Yes, Nigeria is a stressful country to live in, and this is largely due to the poor infrastructure, very high levels of corruption leading to general indiscipline, and the general lack of trust that pervades the air. There are many pointers to stress; for example when a person is irritable, gets easily angered, is generally impatient, or experiences temperamental bouts these could be caused by stress. A person who is stressed is not likely to enjoy good sleep and may be intermittently aroused from sleep suddenly , only to keep awake all night. Stress works out in different ways on different people; for some they start to eat more and become obese, but for some they lose appetite. The bottomline is that stress is not good for anyone, and it depreciates the emotional health. Although stress is not avoidable, it can be managed with a healthy diet (low fat, low salt, plenty of vegetables and fruits, eating the ‘colors’), at least 6-9 hours of sleep daily, moderate aerobic exercise daily like brisk walking for 15-30 minutes or swimming frog style or cycling; and general lifestyle modification using moderation as the watchword in everything. Some sectors are more stress prone than pothers; for example bankers are highly stressed and vulcanisers are not highly stressed. The study is available at the LWI/BusinessDay health report titled ‘Connecting Health to the Work Environment’ which was launched at Grand Health Bazaar #GHB2013 by The Hon Minister of Health Mozambique, Dr. Alexandre Manguele.
How do you handle work-life balance? As an NGO that promotes health literacy, are there any useful information on how to handle this?
Balancing work and life are two key things that every individual must learn It involves working for the right number of hours and resting for the right number of hours while still making out time for social life, family, community, and the general stratosphere. It is usually a very challenging situation and more for women who have to run domestic chores in addition to work life.
Balancing work and life are an act of balancing which usually leads to self-actualization if well practised. Those who are unable to achieve this usually end up in a burnout situation , or where their health is not compromised, they do not feel self-fulfilled but are tired out , spent and exhausted emotionally, physically, and psychologically.
Thank you.
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