PPP: Economic downturn ‘blessing in disguise’ for health

Public health experts say the dwindling economic situation in Nigeria could be a “blessing in disguise” that will force more consideration of public-private partnership (PPP) to fund health care. Speaking in Abuja at the conference by the Association of Public Health Practitioners of Nigeria, Dr. Prosper Igboeli, a former president of the Nigerian Medical Association, […]

Public health experts say the dwindling economic situation in Nigeria could be a “blessing in disguise” that will force more consideration of public-private partnership (PPP) to fund health care.
Speaking in Abuja at the conference by the Association of Public Health Practitioners of Nigeria, Dr. Prosper Igboeli, a former president of the Nigerian Medical Association, expressed certainty that the dire economic straits, which have affected budgetary allocation to health, would help different facilities join together, improve them and attract people going abroad for health care back to the country.
He said Nigeria loses more than $1 billion every year to medical tourism, mostly from government officials and wealth citizens travelling abroad for medical care.
“We need to get better health care services in the country, reverse medical tourism. The population of this country will benefit from the high-tech technology that these people are bringing to Nigeria,” Igboeli said.
Oluwakemi Lawanson, an independent health and governance consultant, said fine-tuning an effective PPP model would help ensure enough quality to guarantee universal health coverage.
“We need to put certain systems that are working uninterrupted, make services affordable to these patients, easily accessible to them. For us to be able to do that, you will agree with me that the government cannot do that on its own.  So, it is time for the government to collaborate with the private sector,” Lawanson said.
Heads of public health institutions doused concerns about PPP being misinterpreted as full outsourcing that could cost staff their jobs.
Prof Lawal Kali, chief medical director of Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria, admitted workers found it difficult to deal with PPP with realities of modern-day health care delivery.