The national policy draft on incentivizing the healthcare industry is built on four pillars of fostering an enabling environment to attract private capital, driving public-private partnerships, government funding, and technology adoption.

But key sector stakeholders think the policy should not overlook other pertinent issues like incentives for players and the impact that uncritical taxes on imported medical products leave on the final cost of care.

Bisi Bright is the 1st Vice Chairman and CEO of LiveWell Initiative LWI, a health promotion non-governmental organization which focuses on reducing health illiteracy and improving life expectancy. The NGO, which runs its own Academy, the LWI Academy with slogan…’living well by design’, has reached out to over 1 million Nigerians, 3,000 Ghanaians and other Africans with a view to reaching out to the whole world. The organization recently got an endorsement from the United States Consulate General in Nigeria, for its commendable effort in the area of public health and its immunization access and grassroots health empowerment programmes.

‘Bisi has carved out her niche in her ability to deliver health and wellness talks in simple language formats and in her mentoring of young professionals. Her organization LiveWell Initiative LWI recently trained and graduated 7 officers at the prestigious LBS (Lagos Business School) EDC (Enterprises Development Centre). LiveWell Initiative collaborates with various local, national and international organizations. Although self-sustaining, the organization is expanding its non-profit activities to the international frontiers by engaging internees and exchange students from various healthcare fields. To achieve its organizational goal of ‘halving’ health illiteracy by the year 2030, LWI introduces newer innovative programmes into the social space, every quarter.

‘Bisi is a Board Member of the Federal Tertiary Health Institution in Azare, Bauchi and Member of the National Health Promotion Committee of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She also serves as the Africa/Middle East Rep of the FIP PI Exco (International Pharmaceutical Federation), Member of the Working Group on Maternal Newborn and Child Health MNCH of the FIP, and, served on ‘Patients As Partners Working Group’ of the FIP as Member, from 2008 to 2010, and is currently a member of the IAPO, CPA and APhA. She is a two-time international membership award winner of the IATDM/CT and she has published over 80 articles, some of which are in peer-reviewed journals.

‘Bisi serves as the Assistant General Secretary of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria where her well-length reservoir of experience has added tremendous value to the private health care industry in general.

below are files that can be downloaded from the HFN website. Some of the files require member login to download. 

HFN Official Documents

• HFN Corporate Profile
• HFN Memorandum and Article Of Association
• HFN Invitation to a parley with Vice President Yemi Osibanjo

HFN Meeting Minutes

• 2013 Meeting Minutes

The world is witnessing unprecedented devastation being caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic to healthcare systems around the world, and as Nigerians we can only imagine the threat it poses to our fragile healthcare system if we do not collectively band together to mount a defence against its spread.  

While we applaud the efforts of the National Centre for Disease Control in its initial response to the outbreak of the Virus in Nigeria, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria and its coalition of partners are poised to assist the various government agencies and public sector apparatus by providing a coordinated private sector response that works in concert to curtail, contain and terminate the effect of the Coronavirus in Nigeria.

Healthcare Federation of Nigeria as an umbrella body for private sector healthcare Business organizations in Nigeria, supported by the IFC- World Bank, PharmAccess and other multilateral organizations, has over 40,000 healthcare professionals in our network. Based on our robust composition, we have a wide reach in the healthcare industry. Our Federation has the enormous advantage of being able to mobilize and deploy human resources and critical equipment needed for early detection of symptoms and effective containment of infectious diseases to prevent further spread.

Members of the HFN EXCO have already sprang into action to determine how we can support both the federal and state government apparatus to fight against COVID-19.  The first step was an initial brainstorm session with the DG NCDC on Wednesday March 25th 2020.  He outlined the immediate needs of his agency:

1. Setting up more accredited test centres
2. Detection of infected and exposed persons, and proper isolation centres
3. Treatment with right medicines and equipment including use of existing ventilators with approved manpower
4. Simple communication tools to reach all citizens especially the grassroots

In order to support the government, HFN would like to solicit support from our members and identify those who have the capacity to support. Kindly indicate by contacting our Secretariat indicating the nature of support you are willing to provide:

1. Provision of World Class Laboratories as additional testing sites across the country.
2. Provision of healthcare Human Resources for treatment and testing centres.
3. Training of manpower including Respiratory Physicians, Nurses, Anaesthetics and ancillary staff to handle the disease.
4. Provision of Infrastructure, Medical Equipment and pharmaceutical products leveraging existing supply chains in the private sector space for rapid deployment. 
5. Grass root information dissemination in Behavioural Change through Social Media, Radio, Telecom platforms.
6. Provision of Remote Consulting leveraging the Telemedicine Platforms already in existence in the private sector
7. Provision and Coordination of Contact Call Centres leveraging the existing capacities in private sector organizations. This will lessen the burden of information dissemination presently on the NCDC

The HFN has collaborated with the Lagos state Government in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. They have supported the government to develop and launch several Isolation centres and Intensive Care Units.  Some of these coalitions include the recent YPO-Lagos– Covid 19 Response and the COCAVID coalition. 

We must also commend the efforts of CBN and all the federal agencies who have reacted swiftly to facilitate access to finance to healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical value chain and medical devices providers, import duty waivers for drugs and medical equipment and duty concessions,   to create an enabling environment for private sector to support this effort. We believe that a concerted and unified approach from the private sector during this period will not only provide the right support for the government’s initiatives, but also prepare the ground work for future collaboration between the public and private sectors for the rapid development of the health sector in Nigeria.

#Stay Safe

 The Newly Elected Officers of the Healthcare Federation Of Nigeria paid a courtesy call to the Honorable Minister of Health recently. L-R Njide Ndili (VP HFN), Clare Omatseye (IPP HFN), Dr Osagie Ehanire (Honorable Minister of Health), Dr Pamela Ajayi (President HFN), Adeyemi Adewole (Fin Sec HFN) and Kolapo Fapohunda (Publicity Sec HFN)

During a Courtesy visit of the newly elected officers of the Healthcare Federation Of Nigeria to the Senate recently. L-R Adeyemi Adewole (Fin Sec HFN), Clare Omatseye (IPP HFN), Dr Pamela Ajayi (President HFN), Distinguished Sen Ibrahim Oloriegbe (Chairman, Senate Health Committee on Healthcare Services),Njide Ndili (VP HFN) and Adeyemi Adewole (Fin Sec HFN). 

After assuming office, the newly elected officers of the Healthcare Federation Of Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman House Committee on Healthcare Services recently... l-R Kolapo Fapohunda  (Publicity Sec HFN), Clare Omatseye (IPP HFN), Dr PAmela Ajayi (President HFN), Honorable Tanko Sununu (Chairman, House Committee on Healthcare Services), Njide Ndili (VP HFN) and Adeyemi Adewole (Fin Sec HFN).

Over the years, the nation’s health sector has been beleaguered with a plethora of challenges ranging from brain drain of its workforce, dearth of infrastructure and reliable data/market size, lack of confidence in the sector, resulting in an alarming rate of medical tourism and other things which have affected health outcomes and quality of healthcare received.

With the private sector responsible for the provision of 60 percent of healthcare services in Nigeria, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has tasked stakeholders in the private health sector on quality healthcare delivery and synergy in order for Nigeria to take its place of ride on the African continent, and attract investors to the sector.

The Medical Director of Eko Hospitals, Lagos, Dr Sunny Kuku, on Friday urged the Federal Government to set up an intervention fund for the private health sector to boost healthcare delivery.

Kuku made the call at the ongoing consultative forum organised by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) in Lagos.

He said that the intervention fund would help to enhance capacity and support infrastructure in the private sector, which handled over 60 per cent of the health needs of Nigerians.