The Federal Government has said that partnering with the private sector will ensure a more resilient health system, the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas, in her keynote address, at the 2023 Annual Future of Health Conference, organised, last week, in Lagos, by Nigeria Health Watch, said the government is greatly investing in the health sector but there has to be an active involvement of the private sector to secure the coverage and sustainability for sensible national growth, development and progressive prosperity.

She said the attainment of the health-related SDGs of “health for all” based on UHC using the continuum-of-care model where no-one-is-left-behind is not possible without prioritising and positioning the health sector to be resilient and more responsive to the needs of the people.

Anas said this administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has prioritised engagement of stakeholders, especially the private sector to achieve the desired goals for the health sector’s growth and development.

She said with over 70 per cent private expenditure on health as a share of the total health spending in the country, having strategic and meaningful partnerships and collaborations between the public and private sectors is key towards unlocking the huge potential and improvement of the overall health sector in the country.

Consequently, Anas said by leveraging on the existing opportunities and possibilities of public-private partnerships, Nigeria can make substantial progress towards achieving UHC, advancing healthcare delivery, improving access, ensuring financial protection and having a resilient health system for all Nigerians. She, however, said this will require crucial reforms that establish clear roles and responsibilities with robust governance frameworks, transparent and accountability mechanisms to ensure the interests of both the public and private stakeholders are safeguarded.

She said achieving a resilient health system requires a multisectoral and multifaceted approach where the public and private sector collaborates and synergises to accelerate progress towards this goal.

With this, Anas said Nigeria can have the right policy space, enhance healthcare infrastructure, requisite manpower, deploy appropriate technologies, guarantee pharmaceutical supplies with supportive logistics, improve service delivery, mobilise additional resources and promote equitable access to quality healthcare for all its citizens. She said this is in line with the Renewed Hope mantra of this administration of inclusivity and partnership especially between the public and private sector for developmental growth that leads to national prosperity.

The physician congratulated Nigeria Health Watch for organising this yearly conference on Future of Health in Nigeria and other dialogue series through the years thereby providing veritable platforms for deliberating health issues that contributes to the improvement of health systems and outcomes for the country.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said the Federal Government is committed to achieving UHC and health-related SDGs.

Pate pledged his commitment to ensuring effective implementation of policies that would enhance the standard of the health Sector and improve the lives of Nigerians.

The Minister said he is ready to work with organisations like the Nigeria Health Watch to enhance the welfare, health and well-being of the people since they are inter-connected right from gestation to early childhood to adulthood and to the elderly all across their life cycle.

The Minister said he is ready to work with other health actors, parastatals, hospitals, states and private sectors in improving the standard of healthcare, in order to stall oversea medical tourism.

Pate commended the Nigeria Health Watch for the great job they are doing, especially in raising the health consciousness of Nigerians. Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof Akin Abayomi, said the infrastructure gap in the health sector cannot be financed only by the government. Abayomi, who was represented by Dr. Olusegun Oboye, said the government sees health as a social service but the private sector sees health as a business where a lot of money can be unlocked to boost healthcare development.

He, however, said there is need for regulation because the private sector is in to do business. Abayomi said the government should provide regulatory oversight on the contributions of the private sector.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN), Dr. Tinuola Akingbade, said: “We compliment what the government is doing. We were incorporated as a roundtable in 2010. We convene and mobilise the private sector.”

Managing Director NSIA, Advanced Medical Services, Dr. Tolupe Adewole, said: “Through private sector mobilisation, from one functional linear accelerator nationwide for the treatment of cancer in 2019, Nigeria now has about 14 now in 2023. The NSIA Cancer Centre at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has seen about 10,000 patients. NSIA organised the first Oncology Conference in Nigeria on August 1, 2023. The partnership between NSIA and government-owned hospitals is liberalising access to care towards achieving UHC.

Former Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris, said the government has to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to work.

Managing Director, Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, in her remarks, said health services are increasingly being provided through mixed health systems that include both public and private providers, with the private health sector serving as an essential source of health-related products and services, particularly those for the poor.

She said recent figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that more than 40 per cent of women in low and middle-income countries, including women in the lowest income quintiles, receive antenatal, labour and delivery care and family planning services from private health providers.

“To improve access to quality and affordable healthcare, the WHO said the private sector must be integrated into quality improvement initiatives, with strong governance structures, ensuring stronger alignment with public healthcare systems. The goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that all people, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to quality health care, and there are opportunities to leverage the capacity and innovation of the private sector in areas such as logistics, supply chains and digital health,” Ihekweazu said.

She said, according to the WHO, the private sector accounts for the majority of total health expenditure in Nigeria, accounting for 71 per cent of domestic private health expenditure. She said as a result of inadequate government investment in the health sector, many people incur catastrophic health costs.

Ihekweazu said the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Bill, was signed into law in May 2022 and now makes health insurance mandatory, but only about four per cent of the population was covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which was provided by employers.

She said this provides a larger role for the private-sector in resource mobilisation, with the aim of supporting the public sector in providing access to healthcare for more Nigerians, especially vulnerable people who will now have access to healthcare through the Vulnerable Group Fund (VGF).

According to the WHO’s health system building blocks, a well-functioning system requires suitably skilled human resources for health. Nigeria is facing the problem of the international migration of healthcare professionals, also known as a “brain drain” This undermines the nation’s ability to attain universal health coverage and the health-related SDGs). The private sector is driving efforts to reverse the trend, providing much-needed expertise and investments to provide Nigerians with quality care.