By Juliet Umeh

To improve the primary healthcare services, PHCs, and offer Nigerians quality care, the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, PSHAN, a Nollywood veteran, Kate Henshaw, among others, have called on well-meaning Nigerians to join hands with PSHAN.

The call came during the 2023 PSHAN annual Gala Award Night held in Lagos recently.

The event with the theme: ‘Advancing Healthcare in Nigeria’ was dedicated to acknowledging the significant contributions of individuals, organisations, and institutions that have been instrumental in advancing healthcare and improving healthcare outcomes in the country.

Also, about 25 awards were given to outstanding organizations, foundations, ministries, departments and agencies.
Foundations agencies and individuals that collected awards include the Aliko Dangote Foundation, MTN Foundation, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and Aproko Doctor among others.

Speaking in an interview, the MD/CEO of PSHAN, Tinuola Akinbolagbe said achieving quality care is not something that should be left in the hands of the government alone. She, therefore, called on other stakeholders to join forces with PSHAN to improve the situation of the PHCs.

She said: “There are a lot of people doing great things in healthcare that are not primarily in the business of healthcare, they are not medical practitioners.”

She said: “We have corporate organisations, media houses who are passionate about health and passionate about improving the health of Nigerians, so we felt as an organization that it is important to recognise what they do, to encourage them and celebrate their achievements.

“We believe that will encourage more people to do more for healthcare in Nigeria, we can’t leave it to the government alone,” she explained.

She said PSHAN supports the government at all levels whether federal, state or local government in improving health outcomes in Nigeria.

Speaking further on the awards, she said: “We had award recipients in five main categories, we had individuals, medical practitioners, organized public sector, media awards and we also had a session for ministries, departments and agencies of the government.”

Meanwhile, she noted that PHSAN last year launched an initiative called the Adopt Healthcare Facility programme.

According to her, “This was launched by the then Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibajo and we came up with an idea where we wanted to revitalize 774 LGAs primary healthcare centres across Nigeria, one in each LGA.

“What we have on the front burner is the Adopt a Healthcare facility programme and we received a lot of commitments from philanthropists, and foundations in Nigeria including the Aliko Dangote Foundation, and Jim Ovia Foundation among others.”

She added: “We are also working with MTN and IHS Nigeria and we commend them and encourage others to join them,” Akinbolagbe advised.

In the same vein, Henshaw, while urging other Nigerians to join forces in advancing healthcare services, said that Nigeria has the power to create a future where every child has the opportunity to grow up healthy.

Henshaw said: “This evening is not just a celebration of achievement but a testament to the credible power of collaboration.

“The theme of this Gala night, Advancing health care in Nigeria is a very calculative dedication to fostering our healthcare to a more prosperous future for this great nation.

“I’m truly thrilled to be a part of this momentum where we gather not only to recognise all efforts by organisations and institutions but also to encourage ourselves to the importance of advancing healthcare in Nigeria.

“The impact PHSAN’s networks have achieved and strive for demonstrates that even the most complex problem can be overcome when we unite for a common purpose.

It is my firm belief that when the private sector, foundations, institutions and other key stakeholders come together, there is no challenge to growth,” Henshaw started.