Communique issued at the PSHAN Periscope webinar titled,
Improving Maternal Health through Innovative Partnerships: Opportunities and Challenges.
Organized by Private Sector Health Alliance on the 29th of March 2023
Background
Maternal mortality and morbidity remain significant public health challenges in Nigeria, with an estimated maternal mortality ratio of 512 per 100,000 live births (National Population Commission, 2019). Inadequate access to healthcare services, poor quality of care, and a shortage of skilled healthcare workers are some of the primary barriers that prevent many Nigerian women from receiving the care they need during pregnancy and childbirth.
To address these barriers, there are Innovative partnerships between different stakeholders (Governments, NGOs, and private sector entities) that have demonstrated potential to improve maternal health outcomes. However, despite the potential benefits demonstrated by these partnerships, they still encounter challenges in Nigeria which include a lack of coordination between different stakeholders leading to duplication of efforts and inefficiencies.
Therefore, there is a need for continued exploration and evaluation of the opportunities and challenges of innovative partnerships targeted at improving maternal health in Nigeria, with the goal of identifying effective strategies to strengthen these partnerships and improve maternal health outcomes.
Current efforts aimed at improving Maternal Health through Innovative Partnerships include:
- Addressing financial barriers through provision of free Maternal and child health services and increasing health insurance especially of the most vulnerable.
- Improved policy and regulatory environment to encourage expansion of services through improved private sector participation.
- Improved quality of care through Infrastructure upgrade, capacity building of healthcare workers and improved health financing.
- Improving uptake of services through change agents (traditional and faith leaders), advocacy campaigns in communities and continued health promotion/ education activities
- Domesticating manufacturing and ensuring that the supply chain can meet international quality standards to encourage local production of commodities.
- Technology transfer agreements that enable manufacturing of drugs that manage conditions like post-partum Hemorrhage (a leading cause of Maternal Mortality)
- Integrating private sector expertise to address the quality of healthcare, innovation and improve community engagement to foster sustainability.
Our Resolution
Challenges with the current effort for innovative partnerships
- Poor collaboration framework especially mapping of partners leading to duplication of efforts and poor resource management.
- Lack of implementation of strategic work plan for all stake holders to guide the direction of investments. Currently investments are driven by individual organisation objectives.
- Challenging implementation of the use of technology to ensure quality data, qualitative health services, supply chain management. Technology is yet to be optimized for health provider support and health care financing.
- Inadequate communication between the various components of the health system building blocks leading to poor program integration for higher chances of sustainability. The overall score cards currently are so fragmented adversely affecting the overall interdependence of health services.
Key take aways
- Ideation is the beginning of better collaboration especially for the public private partnerships to be successful. This also requires whole of government and whole of society approach.
- All stakeholders need be at the table, feel included in the conversation. There should be regular feedback and opportunities for continued dialogue through the period of collaboration.
- The future of the Nigerian Health care system is patient centred approach, community focused that ensures ownership and enhances the chances of sustainability.
- Recognition of the rapidly changing health landscape is important in determining the approach for effective collaboration. collaboration must be adaptive and built to be highly responsive to the changing needs of the communities we serve.
- It is important to get the right leadership at all levels from the communities to the national level. This will help to set the agenda and provide the road map that is clear for all partners to work towards a common goal based on a shared vision.
Panellists
- Amina Mohammed Baloni – Commissioner of Health for Kaduna State
- Jide Idris – MD/CEO, FHS Medical and Former Commissioner of Health, Lagos State
- Uzoma Ezeoke – Executive Director of Emzor Pharmaceuticals
- Iyadunni Olubode – Nigeria Director, MSD for Mothers
- Tinuola Akinbolagbe – MD/CEO, PSHAN (Moderator)
L-R (UP): Dr. Amina Mohammed Baloni – Commissioner of Health for Kaduna State, Dr. Jide Idris – MD/CEO, FHS Medical and Former Commissioner of Health, Lagos State,
Uzoma Ezeoke – Executive Director of Emzor Pharmaceuticals
L-R (DOWN): Iyadunni Olubode – Nigeria Director, MSD for Mothers, Dr. Tinuola Akinbolagbe – MD/CEO, PSHAN (Moderator)