Experts Advocate Encouragement Of PPP In Health Sector

By Israel Afolabi

Experts in the health sector in government hospitals have reiterated that encouraging the Private Public Partnership (PPP), will enhance the health care delivery in Nigeria.

This was the conclusion at an interactive annual general meeting organized by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTHC) branch held at the hospital auditorium last Thursday.

Chairman of MDCAN, OAUTHC Ile-Ife chapter, Prof. Rasaaq Adebayo said the purpose of the meeting was to create awareness on the need to “realise that PPP is the way to go as one of the way of financing health care in hospital.”

While speaking on cost of the PPP services; he stressed that they must ensure that patients do not unduly suffer financial burden.

One of the resource persons at the program, Dr Oluwatoyin Ajala of the University Colleges Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, said the government is not fully funding the healthcare services in country, recommending Private Public Partnership as the only solution to equip the system.

Oluwatoyin said, “PPP will be a good way to assist patient and our government to adequately take care of patient so that we can move a bit to the standard that is acceptable internationally.

Dr Debo Adewumi of the Lagos Teaching Hospital, who is also director of LUTH Initiative Limited, also reiterated the advantages in private public partnership, adding that it makes the hospital run effectively.

While speaking on the financial challenges, he said patient may not be able to pay PPP services which is consider costly, Dr Debo urged individuals to go into the health insurance which according to him will makes everyone enjoy the modern health services.

He said, “there’s nothing good that doesn’t have advantages, patient needs to pay for Services rendered by PPP, some of the patients may not be able to afford the services, this bring the ideas of Health Insurance. When everybody is under some form of health insurance, we can negotiate with this private people to control the cost and Government duty is to ameliorate the cost.”