Nigeria’s medical devices market is poised for growth as technology adoption in healthcare services delivery reduces cost and the middle class expands.
Medical device means any instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, appliance, implant, in vitro reagent or calibrator, software, material or other similar or related article designed by the manufacturer for diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment or alleviation of disease burden.
Export.gov, a United States of America based government agency, which provides U.S companies with data and intelligence about potential markets for export estimated Nigeria’s medical equipment market was worth over $93 million in 2016 and at the current $/N360 exchange rate, the market is equivalent to N33 billion. The second largest economy in Africa, South Africa has a medical devices market worth over $907 million.
There is gradual proliferation of cost-effective medical devices targeted at rural low-income areas such as the specially adapted ultra-portable ultrasound scanners for use in remote parts of Nigeria and Kenya. Designed for where electricity supply is erratic or non-existent, these battery-operated tablet-sized devices, ten times smaller than a traditional ultrasound scanner, can be carried in a backpack by health workers visiting expectant mothers.
In Nigeria today, some infertility problems can be treated with low cost technology, such as going to a doctor to get medication and some basic lifestyle modification like losing weight and advice about right time for ovulation and the rest.
“However, complex technologies have been available in Nigeria since 1989 with the first test tube babies. We pioneered these efforts. Since then there are now almost 70 in vitro fertilisation (IVF) centres in Nigeria,” Oladapo Ashiru, professor of Reproductive Endocrinology and Group Medical Director, MART Group of Clinics said in an interview on a recent Channels TV programme.
“All over the world, the global standard for IVF cost is about $5000 which translate to N1.8 million in Nigeria or slightly less, but most people are charging less than that maybe between N1million- N1.5 million,” Ashiru added.
There are a number of other ways application of technology to medicine is both cost effective and gaining traction in Nigeria.
“Technology is reducing the cost of healthcare in many ways, ranging from how people access expert medical advice to the use of basic medical devices at home. For instance, many doctors these days have blogs or websites where they offer pieces of medical advice that in the past you needed to visit a hospital and pay some fees to access. However, this in no way takes the place of one-to-one consultation with a medical professional,” said Athansius Obiadazie, a surgeon at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria.
“Hand held medical devices such as thermometers, sphygmomanometer (for blood pressure measurement) and respiratory monitors are now common in some homes, which help for early detection. In medicine nothing is as cost effective as early detection,” Obiadazie added.
Technology is helping in many other ways to cut cost in various in the medical space. It is helping reduce the cost of medical record keeping by keeping such electronically instead of printing papers. “The application of technology to medical value chain is helping reduce the cost of information sharing, such as for disease surveillance, by transmission of such information by telephone or email avoiding the need for travel or courier services,” said Doyin Odubanjo, a Lagos-based public health analyst in an emailed note.
“Technology has also helped in reducing the numbers of staff needed. It has reduced the overall cost of clinical services whereby consultations with scarce specialists can be done using mobile technology without anyone, patients or the specialists needing travel,” Odubanjo said.
Market demand which has remained strongest for diagnostic equipment such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography scan (CT), Digital X-Ray, Ultrasound, Mammography and Ultrasound Scans, and other diagnostic technologies, has been strong. Major players in this market are Analogic Corporation, GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, and Toshiba Medical Systems.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU & ANTHONIA OBOKOH
