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Private Investment Needed to Resuscitate the Health Care Sector in Nigeria

In the 1960s, Nigeria was an important location for medical tourism. The Saudis and other Africans use to come to Nigeria for medical care. Today, the reverse is the case. Then, the state of some of Nigeria's regional hospitals like University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan was comparable to what you find in the West. The hospitals were well equipped, the doctors and other hospital personnel were well trained so much they rub shoulders with their peers abroad. What do you find in the last 30 years, most of these hospitals are shadows of themselves because of lack of funding to support the infrastructures, training, and resources to replace old systems? Many times, important surgeries will be going on and power supply will fail, many have lost their lives and confidence is eroded in the system. Nothing has been done to improve patient care and experience. At UCH Ibadan, they still use a physical file system where patient medical records are still in paper files that often lead to deliberate (to fleecing of patients by some unscrupulous hospital record staff) or the clumsiness of having to carry files from one hospital clinic to the other. It is a nightmare going to these hospitals to get medical care if you do not know a good doctor working there that can connect you with the right caregiver. Patients will arrive for consultation at 7 am and may not be attended to until 12 or 1 PM. My mother was to have her first cataract surgery at UCH earlier this year and the doctor who we banked on to connect her with the right people completely forgot on the day she gave her appointment. The headache of navigating the process made her change her mind to get the treatment at a private hospital at 150% of the cost at UCH with less quality care delivery.

A lot of Nigerian public hospitals have become an undertaker home where people go to die instead of getting qualitative medical care. There is a significant loss of confidence in the public health care sector in Nigeria so much so that people will rather consult quack or native doctors than go to these hospitals. Doctors and nurses are underpaid and brain drain is a common occurrence. The dream of an average medical student is to practice abroad for many reasons - the remuneration is multiples of what they will get in Nigeria, the training is qualitative and the practice environment is stimulating.

Because of this, Nigerians who can afford to go abroad are now going to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, India and other countries to get medical care with all the risks involved. In the last few years however, the private health care sector in Nigeria has started growing. Before, St. Nicolas Hospital in Lagos was the only trusted go-to place where medical procedures (kidney transplant, etc) that are not available in public hospitals are routinely carried out. Many more have joined them providing care in different areas. What is happening is that some Nigerians medical practitioners who have trained and worked abroad with many years of experience are patterning with private clinics to set up consultations and providing access to rare procedures for patients that can afford the cost. Some of them have relocated to Nigeria permanently after retiring from their jobs abroad and some come regularly (monthly, bimonthly) to perform complex procedures and return to their base. This has reduced the amount of medical tourism flight Nigerians make abroad and it is saving the country a significant amount of foreign exchange, most importantly, the precious lives of Nigerians. 

Clinics for delivering quality medical care cost millions of dollars to set-up This is where there is an opportunity for private sector funding. I think this is a gold mine for investors who are looking for where to invest their money. There are many Nigerians who need urgent medical care, and can afford the cost but there is no sufficient number of clinics and hospitals available with all the right equipment to deliver the needed care. Investment by the private sector will deliver these cares and bring down the cost as the number of people seeking care in these hospitals increases through economies of scale. I hope the financial sector in Nigeria and abroad are reading and considering exploring the opportunities to invest in a good cause that will maximize return on their investment while helping to bring needed care near home.

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