Health Sector Suffering from Regulatory Lapses, Says Expert 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja  

Chief Executive Officer, CEDAR CREST Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Felix Ogedemgbe said the country’s healthcare system is suffering from poor regulation.

Ogedemgbe spoke in an interview with journalists at a stakeholders’ forum organised by Clina-Lancet Laboratories in Abuja, saying the country’s healthcare system is suffering from poor regulation.

He said: “I did mention lack of regulation in the healthcare space. If you move around whether it is in African, West Africa or the rest of the world, you can see that the Nigerian healthcare space is probably one of the most unregulated in the world. 

“People can do whatever they want and get away with it. The native doctors can put up an advertisement and do other things as he likes. The chemist can do what he likes.

“The pharmacist can do whatever it likes. The same with the laboratories. In the same vein, the hospitals can do operations and anything they wish to do without regulation. 

“So, regulation is very important because it gives people space in the healthcare sector. The second reason why regulation is very important is that it helps people that are going to invest in the health sector. 

“If you are investing billions of Naira in the healthcare space and others can do what they like. It means you won’t get the market. But if you are investing and there are regulations that makes sure that the interface is created for people to come to you for the service, you are likely to invest more.”

According to him, poor regulation is not allowing healthcare to grow in Nigeria. Things must have to change for the better. 

On whether the various regulatory bodies in the healthcare sector are not measuring up to their responsibilities, Ogedemgbe said health practices outside major cities in the country “are not regulated. 

“If you look at the drug market for instance, once you go out of the urban area, you know what happens with the chemists, patent drug dealers that immediately tells you that the regulation is not effective as we expect.

“If you go to the database of the hospitals in the country, it will only say that we have 33,000 hospitals. In order countries, the definition of hospital is clear, what do you call a hospital? What is a clinic?

“Which of them can admit and which can operate on patients? But the regulatory space in Nigeria is poor and does not address this and it has to improve,” he said.

The physician listed three key pillars that should drive the expected investment in the health sector to include, excellence, profitability and sustainability. He at the moment, healthcare business is not profitable in Nigeria due the absence of the key driving force.

As part of the ongoing reform in the health sector, Deputy Director Hospital Services, Dr Janet Agba said the Federal Ministry of Health is seeking to promote improved quality standards in healthcare services by encouraging specialization in hospital services.

Agba also said efforts would be made to promote not just public-private partnership in the health sector but Private-Private collaboration to achieve universal health coverage. 

Agba, represented the Director of Medical Laboratory Services, Dr. Kingsley Odiabara, said the idea should not just be public to private sector collaboration, but private to private which is very important in promoting greater investment and excellence in the sector.

“Once you know something, keep to it. This is probably what makes the difference between succeeding and failing. If everyone sticks to his or her own specialty and we excel in it, that will lead to specialization in healthcare delivery system,” she said.