INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
INTERVIEW
Spotlight on Nigeria’s Private Healthcare Sector Since 2015, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria have galvanised the development of the country’s private health sector through their coalition of stakeholders. President Dr. Pamela Ajayi discusses attracting investment and a patientcentric approach Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Krisha Canlas Africa Outlook (AO): Briefly introduce us to the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria - when were you founded and what is your mission? Pamela Ajayi (PA): The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, otherwise known as “HFN” is a coalition of stakeholders from the private healthcare sector. We are a non-political, non-partisan organisation incorporated in 2015. Our aim is to collectively advocate for Nigeria’s private health sector, and we do this through three key pathways, we focus on advocacy, growth and access to finance for the private healthcare organisations. Our mission is to essentially bring together all the stakeholders in healthcare into an advocacy group for the creation and execution of national policy, working through constructive engagement with both the government and healthcare practitioners. HFN is broad based. We represent everyone in the private health sector - Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, Medical IT practitioners, medical equipment & devices, and consultants to name a few. AO: Since inception, how has HFN developed and progressed in terms of its key objectives and the messages it tries to get across? PA: In terms of advocacy for private sector involvement in the Nigeria Healthcare sector, we have worked as a negotiating body with the Government of Nigeria in the interest of the private health sector, particularly for the development of 2 | Africa Outlook issue 91
HFN – AT A GLANCE “Our vision is to improve healthcare and create an environment where Nigerians can receive affordable and accessible healthcare of the highest quality. As a result, we are independent of any governmental/political ideology, economic interest, religious affiliation; and are mainly funded by our membership and volitional donations from well-meaning Nigerians and organisations.” - Healthcare Federation of Nigeria
favourable policies and regulatory frameworks. In Nigeria, the private health sector provides between 65 and 75 percent of all the country’s healthcare and we work continuously to ensure our government policies reflect this. Working with the House of Assembly and Senate Committees on Health, we have been able to achieve the legislation of a Cancer Health Fund for indigent patients. We have worked with the legislative arm towards Universal Health Coverage, and recently proposed an amendment at the National Assembly to provide protection for first responders at the scene of an emergency (aka Good Samaritans law) into Nigeria.
HEALTHCARE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA (HFN)
From left to right, HFN Treasurer, Dr. ‘Kunle Adeyemi-Doro; HFN President, Dr Pamela Ajayi; Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo GCON; Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and the Chief Physician to the Vice President, Dr. Nicholas Audifferen after an advocacy visit to resolve barriers to the ease of doing business in the private healthcare sector.
We promote access to health services through encouragement of innovation in the provision of health care for example through telehealth and digital services. We also enhance the provision of quality, affordable and accessible health care and health products by working with our partners to promote clinical governance and standards through the utilisation of SafeCare and other accreditation bodies like JCI, ISO and Accreditation Canada. We champion, protect, promote and represent the interests of all private sector healthcare stakeholders, facilitating growth of the industry. An important aspect is in improving the ease of doing business in the healthcare sector. There are numerous issues which we are working towards resolving which will yield great advantages. We advocate for sustainable financing of the Nigerian health sector, particularly the provision of affordable long-term finance to the private health sector.
We are working with financial institutions for bulk finance to achieve this objective and provide access to finance for our members. Capacity building is an essential activity provided by HFN to its members. We organise, facilitate, and contribute to the training of health workers, and share best practices with various institutions, including annual participation in exhibitions and trade promotion events such as Medic West Africa EXPO. We use these exhibitions, conferences and specialised continuing medical education events to provide a forum for consultation among stakeholders in the private healthcare sector. We currently organise webinars and other learning events monthly featuring topics of interest such as updates on COVID-19 vaccination, telehealth, and important issues such as health data protection, Africa Continental Free Trade Area to name a few. We also plan to hold a workshop on Clinical and Corporate Governance before the end of the year. One of the main things that we do is advocate for the inclusion of the private healthcare sector. At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, testing Africa Outlook issue 91 | 3
LEADING HEALTHCARE IN AFRICA: An Interview With Avon Medical’s Chairman, Dr. A.V. Elumelu
We had a chat with Dr Awele Elumelu, the Chairman of Avon Healthcare Limited, Gavi Champion for immunisation in Africa and Founder of Avon Medical, a multi-speciality healthcare network dedicated to providing highquality healthcare services with the best patient experience. Headquartered in Lagos, Avon Medical offers an extensive range of facilities including a full-service hospital, multiple on-site clinics across three states in Nigeria, a state-of-the-art dialysis centre, a reputable pharmacy, a laboratory, and an online teleconsultation platform. As a portfolio company within the Heirs Holdings Group, a family-owned investment company with a mission to improve lives and transform Africa, Avon Medical’s operations are rooted in the economic philosophy of Africapitalism; a private sector-led approach to Africa’s development through longterm investments in critical sectors creating both economic prosperity and social wealth.
Tell us about yourself, your background, and Avon Medical. I am the Founder and Chairman of Avon Medical, a leading multi-specialty practice and a growing healthcare network dedicated to improving lives across Africa by providing affordable, world-class healthcare services. As a medical doctor myself, I have worked in Nigeria and internationally, and through my experience, I have identified the poor health infrastructure, absence of medical equipment, and poor healthcare coverage as some of the challenges facing healthcare delivery in Nigeria and other African countries. Due to this, I am focused on expanding access to quality healthcare across the continent, establishing
Avon Medical and other healthcare initiatives to provide affordable, adequate, and effective healthcare services. At Avon Medical, we are committed, not just to the medical healing of our patients, but to their total wellbeing. In all that we do, the overriding interest remains our patients. They are at the centre of and the reason for all we do.
The pandemic caused many healthcare institutions to pivot and make many changes. Can you tell us about the impact of COVID-19 on Avon Medical? As a leading healthcare provider in Nigeria, when the world began experiencing the reality of COVID-19 back in 2020, it was paramount for us at Avon Medical to ensure that we could continue to provide the premium healthcare that people could depend on and had come to expect, even amidst the anxiety and challenges of the pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had experienced the periodic outbreak of not only the Ebola Virus but also Lassa Fever, leading us to heighten our precautions and be prepared to swiftly adapt to ensure the safety of all our patients, while securing the welfare of our frontline workers and medical staff, no matter what came our way. Although no amount of preparation would have made any hospital ready for COVID-19, it is a testament to the merit of our process, the quality of our staff, and their dedication to ensure we are ready to take on any new developments. The lesson we learned at Avon Medical was the importance of innovating amidst the pandemic, to ensure we made true on our brand promise to provide exceptional healthcare.
Can you share some of the innovations made by Avon Medical?
Are there any healthcare services that Avon Medical is at the forefront of?
During the pandemic, one of our biggest innovations included incorporating technology to make healthcare even more accessible for our patients. Our in-house technology team worked swiftly to create an online platform where patients could access healthcare services, from remote doctor consultations, specialist consultations, to drug refills and delivery to their doorstep and manage their health. Our current and new patients are able to access these services online. Right now, the platform currently resides on our main hospital website, www. avonmedical.com, but we continue to leverage technology in a bid to simplify the healthcare process for our patients. From the feedback we have received through our telemedicine platform, we have discovered a large number of patients who want to keep track of their health, consult their doctor right from their phones, have access to health tips and information from qualified medical staff, and even rate and review their doctor experience. As a brand that listens closely to our customers and is committed to providing quality healthcare to Africans, we are currently developing a more robust telemedicine platform that will have a mobile application on Google Playstore, Apple iOS, and a web version. This solution is in the testing phase to ensure that the application is not only a simple online consultation platform but also a trusted health partner for Africans. We encourage everyone to follow our social media pages: @avonmedicalpractice on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn and our website for more updates about the upcoming application.
Under Avon Medical’s network of healthcare services, we established Avon Dialysis Centre, a state-of-the-art facility providing exceptional renal care for dialysis patients. Based in the Ikeja axis of Lagos, Nigeria, the Centre is serene, private and well equipped to deliver the best clinical and service experience with the most up-to-date technology. I also have to mention our dedicated well-certified professionals, that continue to keep up our standards as a world-class healthcare organisation and contribute to our reputation for quality care. To learn more about our dialysis centre, visit our website, www.avondialysis.com. Our dialysis centre currently possesses a 95 per cent patient satisfaction rating from our surveys, and we are glad because it is proof that we keep our promise of premium healthcare and a stellar patient experience.
Do you have any direction you’d like to take the hospital moving forward? We believe in making healthcare more accessible to companies who put their employees’ well-being at the forefront of their activities, especially at a time where we have a workforce that is reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. To provide a trusted solution to organisations across Africa, we partner with organisations to create on-site or worksite clinics providing employees with a convenient, low-cost option for high-quality healthcare. So far, we have established on-site clinics for organisations like United Bank For Africa (UBA), Transcorp Power, Transcorp Hotels, and more, we look forward to expanding in this area.
We are thankful to Dr. Elumelu for taking the time to answer some of our questions. For any inquiries about the on-site clinics, send an email to info@avonmedical.com.
avon-medical-practice-limited avonmedicalpractice AvonMedicalPractice
E: info@avonmedical.com T: 0908 799 4656, 0908 799 4655 www.avonmedical.com Africa Outlook issue 89 | 5
INTERVIEW
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
was limited to the public sector, thereby limiting treatment and care. We strongly advocated for private sector participation to complement the efforts of the government. Once this was implemented, there was successful integration and subsequent increase in the amount of testing that was done in the country which has had a very positive impact.
provision of Primary Care in Nigeria to ensure that the private sector is adequately represented. The private sector also provides specialist and tertiary care. We believe that proper integration between the public and private sector will go a long way towards achieving affordable accessible, universal health care. These discussions also highlighted another key topic amongst our stakeholders, concerning the AO: Have HFN participated in any projects that you issue of CPR. Though many people believe that would like to highlight? lack of training is the reason why CPR is not done in Nigeria, we found out that even though the Red PA: Early in the pandemic, we worked with other Cross has single-handedly trained over 10,000 groups to support the government’s efforts. The people in Nigeria, the main reason people are not private sector played a pivotal role in the provision doing it is out of fear of arrest or accusation of having of infrastructure to combat the pandemic, setting killed the victim. There is no protection for the first up isolation and treatment centres. HFN supported responder in Nigeria. We presented it at the National communication and advocacy efforts, effectively Assembly to protect the first responder, (aka Good ensuring private sector participation in COVID-19 Samaritan Law) enabling people to feel confident in testing. Currently we are advocating for private providing that extremely critical care. These are just sector participation in vaccine distribution and some of the things that we have done to influence administration. policy and regulatory frameworks. Another example is the Cancer Health Fund We have also promoted access to healthcare – there is a problem with payment for cancer services through the encouragement of technology treatment as in many underdeveloped countries. by promoting digital health using digital and Most health insurance policies simply do not mobile technology. Just last month, we held our cover cancer care, which can be very expensive. monthly webinar, on this occasion focusing on the Working collaboratively with the House and Senate ‘Practical and Clinical Aspect of Telehealth for Health Committee on Health, we successfully advocated for Professionals in Nigeria’. This was to promote the the provision of a cancer fund to help cover the cost sheer broadness of the possibilities of telehealth of care for indigent patients. and educate people on how this can be used with At the recent Senate legislative committee on practical advice on how to carry out a telehealth universal health coverage, we continued to highlight conference in a very practical and user-friendly way. the ways private sector participation is critical to the This is an example of how we also work on capacity building, alongside training and promoting innovation. Another key focus is access to finance. The COVID-19 pandemic really exposed some of the challenges that we have in terms of infrastructure in our environment, and so we have begun to work with the government and various banks and other institutions to provide that access to finance. This is ongoing and we continue to work on promoting access to finance on behalf of our members since this it is not a quick fix. In terms of capacity building, we also focus on this issue that we have with the data protection law, which a lot of Left to Right: Financial Secretary - HFN, Mr. Adeyemi Adewole; Vice President - HFN, Mrs. Njide Ndili; Deputy Governor Operations – Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Adebisi Shonubi; medical people are not aware of. This is President - HFN, Dr Pamela Ajayi; Treasurer – HFN, Dr. ‘Kunle Adeyemi-Doro; Member NEC another area that we have conducted – HFN, Mrs. Olayinka Oyeneyin and Public Relations Secretary – HFN, Mr. Kolapo Fapohunda during an advocacy visit to improve private health sector financing. webinars on, with the necessary
6 | Africa Outlook issue 91
HEALTHCARE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA (HFN)
“Nigeria has fully vaccinated less than one percent of the population, and so we are saying, include the private sector” - Dr Pamela Ajayi, President, HFN
authorities, to educate both from the agency as well as our medical and dental councils. Soon we will also be hosting a webinar on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), to enlighten our members on what this is, what it will bring to the table and how healthcare professionals across the country can benefit from this new law. AO: What are the main improvements that HFN has identified that need to be made within Nigeria’s healthcare sector? PA: We know that although more resources are needed, our government is looking for innovative ways of doing more with what already exists. We are keen to ensure that the private sector is enabled to fill that gap. There needs to be a strengthening of our health systems to ensure improved health outcomes. With the recognition of the interdependence of all aspects of the value chain, it is important that there is effective procurement and delivery of healthcare products and services to those in need. Our institutions need to be staffed by enough workers with the right skills provided with the right tools and technology to deliver adequate levels of care. It is very important for our government to ensure that our healthcare rules and regulations, as well as our labour laws, are conducive to our members and the development of the private healthcare sector. This is something that we continue to do, not just for the practitioner but also for the patient. Sustainable financing, particularly affordable long-term finance is what is needed and that is a big challenge. We are currently in negotiations with key healthcare institutions to try and achieve this. Provision of the right incentives with enabling laws to protect those investments could be a way to solve both the issue of improving infrastructure and reversing the brain drain turning Nigeria into a destination within Africa for Medical Tourism. This presents a huge opportunity for us as Nigeria joins the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
AO: How do you see the Federation developing over the next five years? PA: We intend to grow the Federation nationally providing value to our members, in terms of capacity building, facilitating networking within our membership group, encouraging growth and providing access to finance. There is a lot of work that we intend to do to build our membership base and build the sustainability of the HFN organisation itself. We will continue to support the government’s efforts on COVID-19 as the pandemic isn’t over. The threat of variants remains with us and we need to do all we can in this regard. Private sector participation is key to ensuring we achieve herd immunity. Nigeria also needs to become a player in the manufacturing of vaccines and other critical products to properly serve its vast population and our members can play a crucial role. HFN has advisory functions which need to be exercised at both state and national levels where we will be better able to serve. The loss of essential skilled health care workers is an area which we need to reverse. We need to have policies and incentives developed to encourage our medical personnel in the diaspora to come back. We also aim to encourage investment in the healthcare space. Our focus is very much on training and development. In addition, there are certain key projects that we intend to carry out to ensure that it is easier to do business here within healthcare sector. We will continue to negotiate on the part of the private sector with the government to create favourable policies and regulatory frameworks for the private healthcare sector, resolving conflicts when they arise.
Tel: 07030567554, 08023157937 info@hfnigeria.com www.hfnigeria.com Africa Outlook issue 91 | 7
HEALTHCARE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA (HFN) 30 Raymond Njoku, Off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos Tel: 07030567554, 08023157937 info@hfnigeria.com www.hfnigeria.com
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