Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has been identified as the key that would address fully the country’s healthcare challenges and the capacity to create millions of jobs in the industry.
As Nigeria’s health sector struggles in achieving Universal Health Coverage which by far the biggest cost, but with the adoption of a PPP model Nigerians are getting better healthcare coverage.
The push into PPP to improve the health and well-being of citizens is helping to shape the sector
Nigeria is now seeing the significant experience of public and private health-care sectors forming partnerships and collaborations but there needs to be a more accurate evaluation to inform future scaling up of the sector generally.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in health are on the rise in Africa as governments recognise the important role which the private sector can play in increasing access to healthcare for the African population.
With Nigeria’s health sector currently facing a shortage of facilities, resources, and manpower, Hospitals do not have enough staff. Doctors and nurses are overworked. While the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is in the works, it’s still several years away. It won’t immediately address one of the biggest problems around healthcare – access.
Experts say healthcare in Nigeria increase access by sustainability, public-private partnership, and that urgent attention to optimise delivery and avoid experiencing progressive deterioration due largely to weakened political will on the part of successive governments to effectively solve several problems that have accumulated in the sector over many years must be carried out.
How does it work to deliver healthcare to the public?
A public-private partnership is a partnership between the government and the private sector in the delivery of goods or services to the public and has emerged as a possible vehicle to enable the advancement towards Universal Health Coverage.
PPPs aim to address this by allowing private investment in the health industry what would on average be public infrastructure such as funding healthcare innovations, donations of medical infrastructure, renovations of hospitals and even government medical buildings.
The private sector has a major role to play in developing innovative use of technology, such as mobile phones and new diagnostics, and innovations in service delivery but these require a close, transparent relationship with government and public providers.
Stakeholders from the public and private sectors need more mechanisms and forums for engaging in public-private interactions in health
The PPP model adopted by PharmAccess enabled greater access to finance to enable the revitalisation of primary health centres – the frontline of healthcare access for more Nigerians. Realising that health facilities have struggled to access finance due to the stringent requirements put on them by financial institutions.
Many governments in sub-Saharan Africa are seeking to establish public–private partnerships (PPPs) for the financing and operation of new healthcare facilities and services. In South Africa and Ghana has been able to propose and adopt different models and approaches to developing PPPs, as well as working to strengthen the environment in which they operate.
How can PPPs strengthen Nigeria’s health sector?
Nigeria’s health system only ranks better than the health systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Myanmar.
Liberia and Malawi rank just above Nigeria on the quality of healthcare provided to their citizens. Only a few investors are interested in the country’s healthcare sector.
PPPs can offer a strong platform for developing approaches to health sector in challenging environment like Nigeria ,advantages include allowing public institutions to meet mandates efficiently and cost-effectively that ensures services are pro-poor and sustainable; reducing cost and out of pocket payment ; offering the potential to reach under-served populations and harnessing private sector innovation, business penetration, speed, and demand creation through business links to centre of population.
Private businesses with an interest in expanding into healthcare service providers are likely to be drawn to city areas under their dense populations, and potential to scale it up
PPPs of all sizes and models require strong regulatory frameworks and supportive public institutions. Nationally, sector reform, framework development, and demand creation support will strengthen the enabling environment for PPPs. On sub-national levels, the public sector can provide capacity building, technical assistance, and guidelines for health start-ups willing to enter the health sector.
“Public-private partnership is built on sustainability; it means collaboration with one another, committing to strategies that will increase visibility and deepen financing business of health penetration and not people dictating policy,” Clare Omatseye, managing director/CEO at JNC International (JNCI), President Healthcare Federation of Nigeria-HFN
“We need to get our policies right, both public and private sectors together develop. There are different policies but we also found out that the biggest problem is implementation”, she said.
The PPP initiative is a guide to what is working and a tool for inspiring further action.
Hammed Ninalowo, a United States-trained Vascular and Interventional Radiologist said some things are not available in Nigeria, instead of referring patients to India, it is better the county can grow to the point to be able to call one centre in Lagos or Abuja and say do have this treatment available before patients are transferred.
“I encourage Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the country to strengthen the health sector and grow medical practice in the country,”
“One hospital can’t get all the experts but with collaboration and partnership will help the patient by working together in the tertiary institution, private hospitals and once we are working together, then, that is the only way is forward and not backward.,” he said.
Commenting on improving Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Nigeria’s health sector, Baiyewu Lateef Ayodele, a Surgeon – Cardiothoracic, said it is a new way to go to drive this innovation in the county’s healthcare delivery services generally.
“There is no way the government can fund everything in healthcare alone because the demands are not fully taken care of by the supply by the government, so there is a definite need for collaborations and partnerships with private arm of investment in healthcare to strengthen and fill gaps in the sector,” he said.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
