‘Harness private sector to improve healthcare’
Dr Stefan Oschmann is the CEO elect of Merck, a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. He is also president, International Federation of Pharmaceutical manufacturers and Associations. In this interview, he speaks on how the recent establishment of the organization’s first office in Nigeria will impact on healthcare in […]
Dr Stefan Oschmann is the CEO elect of Merck, a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. He is also president, International Federation of Pharmaceutical manufacturers and Associations. In this interview, he speaks on how the recent establishment of the organization’s first office in Nigeria will impact on healthcare in the country.
With the coming of Merck into Nigeria, how is it going to impact on the country’s health sector?
At the moment Merck has activity in the field of healthcare and in the field of life science. In the life science area, we are working on making clinical laboratories more effective, and making water purification technology available.
In the field of healthcare, we are focusing on our product range on diabetes, hypertension and many other areas. We also have a lot of corporate social responsibility programmes on going, like in combating schistosomiasis.
We also work with many stakeholders in combating counterfeit medicines and making mini-labs available.
Merck was founded almost 350 years ago in Germany, and it is the oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company in the world. We develop new medicines, enable research, and make products that are being used in electronics, for instance smart phones and electronic computers.
In what ways will you partner with the government to improve the health of Nigerians?
As Merck we have many public- private partnerships in many countries throughout the world when it comes to creating access to affordable health care. A typical public-private partnership will be the one on schistosomiasis where we have been distributing drugs through World Health Organization and through local players to eliminate the disease.
What is your take on the private sector and universal health coverage?
One of the main goals of universal health coverage is to reduce disparities and make sure that everybody benefits from access to quality health care while also reducing the risk of catastrophic financial harm as a result of seeking health services.
The private sector has multiple skills that can be leveraged by both the global community and governments. For example the private sector can bring market discipline , innovation and additional resources to the table.
By participating in multi-sectoral partnerships, the private sector can support Nigeria to strengthen its health systems, create innovative financing models and build evidence that will be crucial to implementing universal health coverage.
Can you tell us about your visit recently?
It is the first time that the entire management of a large multinational corporation in Germany is touring Africa. Each one of us is going to three countries, and we will then meet in one place to share our experiences. We will be talking to government, to epidemic institutions, players, physicians, and groups to mention a few . I arrived from Nairobi to Nigeria recently. I plan to be in Lagos and then Johannesburg, South Africa.
What will you be doing in Lagos?
We will distribute drugs to children to treat them for schistomiasis. We will be visiting our newly established office in Lagos and we will have another discussion event on health care topics.
We need to shape the image of Africa in the Western media. Most people in the Western media see the African continent as a place of conflicts, strife and we know that African countries like Nigeria have challenges. But if you look at the tremendous development that we see in Africa culturally, economically, it is actually very, very impressive. All together we need to be very assertive that Africa has potentials.