With less than a year to the magical year 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is expected to have ended most of the developing countries’ challenges in health, Nigeria’s indices is not encouraging. However, a novel health care strategy designed to increase innovation and excellence in the sector recognised those blazing the trail at the weekend. Godwin Haruna writes

How do you re-invigorate Nigeria’s health sector to stem the rising tide of medical tourism through which the country is losing billions of naira annually? Besides bringing modern equipment and experts to facilitate health care delivery in the country, there is much more to do to stimulate quality health care delivery in the country.

To get the best out of what is available, Dr. Wale Alabi set about a project designed to celebrate and recognise the best individuals and organisations that have flourished delivering quality care in the country. Speaking at the Nigerian Health Care Excellence Award at the weekend, Alabi said the reputation of health care organisations is critical in influencing patients seeking services. “For health care organisations of the 21st century a good reputation is imperative. That is why creating a reward system will bring to the fore accountability, disclosure, responsibility, transparency and a performance orientation in our nation's health care space,” Alabi stated.

He stated that the objectives are to create awareness and interface with innovative health care practices, quality assurance mechanisms and marketing concepts, suggest policy framework for achieving global standards of health care across the country and ultimately up the stakes in the delivery of services. In pursuit of this, an advisory board chaired by Dr. Jim Rice of the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) comprising of other notable professionals was instituted. He added that the selection/jury committee is chaired by Prof. Soyibo Adedoyin of the University College Hospital, Ibadan with other eminent members.

The illustrious Prof. Emmanuel Elebute, founder of Lagoon Hospitals and Hygea Health Management Organisation was the generally accepted choice for the Lifetime Achievement Award. He stepped forward with his no less equally endowed wife, Prof. Elebute to collect the award last Saturday at Eko Hotels, Lagos for their immense contributions to Nigeria’s health care.

A winner that also stood out on the day was Reddington Hospital, Victoria Island Lagos, which was adjudged the Private Health care Provider of the Year. Its emergence over a decade ago has truly reduced the rate at which the nation’s elite seeks medical treatment abroad. Close watchers also agree that the array of equipment and expertise assembled at the facility makes it a specialist hospital in name and deed.

Speaking to THISDAY on the stands of the awards ceremony, the chief executive officer of the hospital, Dr. Yemi Onabowale said the facility started as a health care provider in 2001 with the establishment of the Cardiac Centre, in Victoria Island, in association with the renowned Cromwell Hospital in London.

“Its philosophy of providing the best in specialised cardiac care has now been developed in the form of the Reddington Multi-specialist Hospital, into one of providing a one-stop comprehensive tertiary hospital solution to all health care problems.

The Reddington Hospital has expertise in cardiology, with its own coronary and Intensive Care Unit. It now also provides renal dialysis, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, surgery (including endoscopy and day-case surgery), ophthalmology, ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) surgery, radiology and psychiatry. These are all supported by the latest technology, provided by giants in the various fields - the MRI is from General Electric, the CT scanner from Toshiba, the endoscopes from Olympus and Storz, and there is much more,” Onabowale said.
Other nominees in the Private Health care Provider of the Year include Cedarcrest Hospital, Abuja, Lagoon Hospitals, Lagos and Lilly Hospital. Warri

Also speaking on the facilities available at the hospital, the general manager, Andy Cunliffe said the idea was to provide a centre that would render excellent care to Nigerians. Cunliffe said further that the pride of the centre over the years has been the difference it has made in saving lives and promoting healthy living among Nigerians.

He added that not only is the hospital raising the health care delivery project, it has also provided a platform for Nigerians in the Diaspora to return home to practice their profession. Asked if services available were affordable to ordinary Nigerians, Cunliffe said through the instrument of health insurance scheme paid for by participating companies, many people have benefitted from its services.
Also speaking on the stands of the award ceremony, Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Mathews said the hospital’s focus would be to deliver excellent health care by constantly upgrading its medical capabilities, using all the latest technology, as well as providing continuous training for all our medical and paramedical staff. Mathews stated that the facility had been newly built on nine floors, on the same site as the Cardiac Centre, next to Mega Plaza, and provides care in all fields of internal medicine.

The COO, who gave himself as one of the Diaspora Nigerians attracted to the specialist centre said its emergence has helped the country in many respects and added that they would not relent in their quest to pursue medical excellence, which brought them the award.

According to him, in September 2009, the specialist hospital opened a new cardiac centre, pioneering Nigeria's first Digital Cardiac Catherization and Angiography suite. The centre, he added had since carried out numerous services to the public. He said the management would not rule out the possibility of setting up other centres across the country if resources become available in future.
The Rivers State government won the Outstanding Government Health care Programme of the Year with its primary health care programme. It beat other nominees such as Lagos, Kano and Ondo States to pick the glamorous public sector award.

Speaking to journalists on the award, state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Parker Sampson said a lot of things are happening in the state, which he would want other states to emulate. “Most important is the primary health care system in Rivers State. We need to build our health system in Nigeria from the primary health care level and that is what we have done and have succeeded in Rivers State.

“Today on our assessment by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on routine immunization   coverage, we achieved 100 per cent. Routine immunization  means that parents on their own  willingly are taking children to the primary health centres of which we have built about 120 functional centres with doctors and nurses  in different parts of the state.

“That means that the children are no longer dying as they were before. That means that women are going to the hospital, the health centres at least for primary care. That  means that the other siblings as the  mother is going she will take other children along. That means that the husband too will know about the health centre and probably check his blood pressure one day. It also means that we have a better health care delivery in Rivers State,” Sampson said.

He stated that for the almost seven years that Governor Chibuike Amaechi has been in government, people were no longer dying as they were before. “Is this something that we can replicate in other parts of the country?” Sampson asked no one in particular.
On the secondary and tertiary health care, the commissioner said:  “70 % of our problem could end at the primary care level. When you are talking about secondary and tertiary, you are talking about the remaining percentage. Primary health care is about secondary and tertiary that we are also taking care of. We have a strong PPP project in Rivers State where government built and in partnership with the private sector, it is running.”

Sampson said private sector participation in health needed to be promoted because hospital business is a huge international business and major foreign exchange earner for countries like India, Cuba and South Africa.

On whether the state would meet the health-related MDGs, he said: “I don’t believe in slogan, I believe in reality. I think that we have a lot of things more to do to achieve that. We shouldn’t set goals for ourselves like that and we should not allow people that are not familiar with our environment set goals for us. We are in Africa and we know our challenges. Lets sit and look at practical things on ground and know how to manage issues on ground such as funding for health care.”

The commissioner, who said the recognition is for Amaechi’s efforts said health care in Rivers State is free and the award would spur them to do more for the people

Source: This Day Live