By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- THE hope of Nigerians was boosted when Dutch and Nigerian companies came together to strengthen existing ties on life sciences and healthcare services based on the partnership between the Kingdom of Netherlands and Nigeria as a healthcare business collaboration.

This was made known during a three-day event, which kicked off in Lagos on Tuesday February 27 and climaxed in the nation’s capital, Abuja on Thursday the February 29, organized by PharmAccess, the Consulate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, HFN, and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, and hosted by the Vice Minister for Public Health of the Netherlands, Marjolijn Sonnema; the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr Wouter Plomp; the National Coordinator, Presidential “Unlocking Healthcare Value-Chain Initiative”, Dr. Abdu Muktar; the Managing Director, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Advanced Medical Services Limited, Dr. Tolulope Adewale; and amongst others.

The Dutch Vice Minister for Public Health, Marjolijn Sonnema, in a remark emphasized the critical need for a global perspective on healthcare, transcending traditional borders that confine the scope of public health efforts.

Sonnema pointed out that borders only matter for people and products, but not for diseases, hence there is need for both countries to synergise and fight the common enemy called disease.

She said: “In our interconnected world, borders only matter for people and products, but not for diseases. We must build resilience.

“We must build the world’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to all infectious disease outbreaks. We must look at healthcare on a global stage.”

The National Coordinator, Presidential ‘Unlocking Healthcare Value-Chain Initiative’, Dr Abdu Mukhtar, expressed readiness and commitment to ensure provision of an enabling environment for Nigeria’s public and private sector players for seamless operation and collaboration in the best interest of Nigerians.

“We are doing what is necessary to provide the enabling environment for the public and private sectors to thrive to ensure that we produce the things critical for the health and well-being of Nigerians while creating economic value & jobs,” Muktar said.

Earlier, in an address of welcome, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Wouter Plomp, spoke extensively on the critical need for quality inputs in the Nigerian healthcare sector.

Plomp also stressed the importance and need of addressing healthcare requirements, particularly at the primary healthcare centers that serve the majority of Nigeria’s over 200 million people, and pointed out the need for specialized facilities focusing on diagnostics, prevention, and pharmaceuticals.

However, the envoy acknowledged the Nigerian government’s ambition to curtail outbound medical tourism and enhance investment in the domestic healthcare sector, which he said meeting these goals would necessitate a substantial boost in both quantity and quality, which he assured and declared that the Netherlands is ready to embrace and contribute to this challenge.

Meanwhile, in a goodwill message, the President, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria HFN, Dr Pamela Ajayi, emphasized the significance of focusing on the opportunities within Nigeria’s Healthcare value chain, with a special emphasis on the private sector.

Ajayi also commended the Dutch Consulate for expressing interest and making a move to invest in Nigeria’s huge potential in healthcare.

Giving a presentation titled ‘Digital Transformative Technologies for Universal Health Coverage’, the Vice President, HFN, and Country Director, PharmAccess, Mrs Njide Ndili, indicated to the participants a vision of immense possibilities arising from the interconnectivity of billions of people through mobile devices.

Ndili pointed out the transformative potential in this vast network, characterized by unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge. This interconnected landscape.

According to Ndili, the opportunities and possibilities present virtually unlimited opportunities for leveraging digital technologies to advance healthcare.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the meeting, PharmAccess, the implementation partner for the Dutch Consulate in Healthcare aid from the Netherlands government to Nigeria, facilitated an NGO roundtable.

The goal of this roundtable was to align developmental partners based on their strengths to support the government’s initiative, which the Country Director, PharmAccess, Njide Ndili, stressed the importance of collaboration and necessity of reducing redundant structures, and horizontalizing vertical programmes to achieve a unified Universal Health Coverage (UHC) objective.

The roundtable discussion focused on trends and opportunities in the Nigerian Healthcare Industry, matchmaking sessions between Dutch and Nigerian companies, insightful panel discussions, and visits to key healthcare facilities including the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, University of Lagos, and Duchess Hospital.

 Meanwhile, also in attendance was the Consul General of the Netherlands in Lagos, Michel Deelen; the President of the HFN, Dr. Pamela Ajayi; the Country Director of PharmAccess, Mrs. Njide Ndili; the Founder AiDx Medical B.V, Mr. Temitope Agbana; the Executive Director, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Mrs. Uzoma Ezeoke, and many others.

The visiting trade mission companies included AidX Medical B.V., AshCure Pharma B.V., Healthy Entrepreneurs, HemoClear, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Platos Health B.V., PSI Nigeria, Telecom, WCC Group, and Aidsfonds. Also in attendance were CEOs of hospital groups, representatives from NGOs, public sectors, and private sectors amongst several other business leaders.