An health expert Oliver Van Veen has said mobile healthcare can bring essential medical services closer to communities cut off by distance, flooding, insecurity and displacement, but stressed that its success depends on its integration with the broader health system to ensure continuity of care.

The expert who is also the CEO of Vannin Group  in a statement stated  that while mobile clinics can improve access to immunisation, antenatal and postnatal care, disease screening, nutrition services and basic treatment, but emphasized that it should not be seen as a substitute for functional primary healthcare facilities.

According to him, healthcare access is not determined solely by the number of clinics available, but by whether patients can reach facilities, access medicines and skilled health workers, and receive follow-up care when required.

He observed that in many parts of Nigeria, poor road networks, seasonal flooding, insecurity and displacement have made even short distances difficult for patients to access healthcare services.

Citing recent interventions in Adamawa State, Van Veen said the World Health Organisation (WHO) deployed 10 mobile clinics that carried out more than 410 outreach visits across 10 local government areas between September and December 2025.

“The outreach provided integrated services, including antenatal and postnatal care, immunisation, outpatient consultations, nutrition screening, mental health support, disease surveillance and referrals, reaching more than 350,000 people.”

The expert, however, warned that mobile healthcare programmes risk becoming ineffective if they are implemented as one-off outreach activities without referral systems, adequate medical supplies or plans for follow-up visits.

He stressed that the effectiveness of mobile healthcare should be measured by patient outcomes, including completion of immunisation schedules, continuity of treatment for chronic diseases, successful referrals and regular follow-up care, rather than by the number of consultations conducted.

He emphasized that mobile healthcare should be designed around clinical needs rather than the vehicles used to deliver services.

He explained that programme planners should first identify the specific access barriers, determine which services can be safely delivered through mobile teams, establish links with fixed health facilities, ensure continuity of care through proper record-keeping and referrals, and develop contingency plans for emergencies such as flooding, vehicle breakdowns and staff shortages.

Van Veen maintained that mobile healthcare should complement, rather than replace, permanent health facilities.

He advocated a hub-and-spoke model in which functional primary healthcare centres and hospitals serve as referral hubs, while mobile teams provide outreach services, replenish supplies, share patient records and refer complicated cases back to fixed facilities.

He also noted that mobile teams can strengthen emergency preparedness by delivering healthcare services ahead of seasonal flooding and other crises, supported by pre-positioned medical supplies and coordinated emergency response systems.

Van Veen urged policymakers to focus on designing mobile healthcare programmes that strengthen long-term patient care, saying the ultimate measure of success is whether patients remain connected to healthcare services after the mobile teams have left.