‘Healthcare challenge may truncate MDGs target’
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| Enrico Liggeri, country manager, Pfizer Specialties, Nigeria and East Africa Region (NEAR) |
reduce child mortality and pneumonia in the country
What is your assessment of nation’s healthcare system?
The Nigerian healthcare system is a daunting task confronting everyone. Certainly, I do respect the people who are trying to cope with such task. I am particularly referring to the fact that Nigeria is the most populous country in West Africa; about 150 to 160 million people. And this population is said to be growing because Nigeria has one of the highest fertility rates in the planet.
Recently, I ran into some World Bank estimates that by the year 2020 when we are supposed to hit the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), this country will be in excess of 250 million people. The reason I am saying this is that it is not only about fixing the problems in the healthcare system for now; we need to get ready for the future because it is a serious catch up situation if a more complete programme is not put in place.
Nevertheless, the healthcare system in Nigeria, though there are some gaps, is trying its best to provide basic healthcare to the people. I would certainly advocate for greater effort to providing more revenue in view of the fact that it is an oil-rich country. The government should dedicate a fixed amount of their revenues to the healthcare sector. On the other hand, what should be encouraged is the expansion for the private sector in the case of insurance. I think that Nigeria is in a unique position of being able to rely on stable revenue stream coming from oil unlike some only countries in Africa which can be dedicated to the lower segment of the Nigerian population.
On the other end, Nigeria is a vibrant economy which can take model from what happens in other countries. For instance, in the United States of America, managed healthcare are privately insured which provide a better model for healthcare. And this is an area that may require further expansion by involving the private sector and the multinationals operating in the country providing health insurance like it is done in other parts of the world.
Largely, I will say Nigeria’s healthcare has improved and certainly requiring an increasing need for funding. I see this funding necessary and being provided by government as well as by private sector investments. But if the population growth continues in the manner it is, the demand for healthcare will outpace the population. This is because the more people with disposable income grow up, the more socio-economic outlook improves.
On the other end, private corporations are taking initiatives in providing healthcare for its employees through having one form or the other of insurance platform for its staff. This is aimed at improving the well being of its staff. For instance, in Pfizer, we provide healthcare insurance based on the US model to all our staff. So, all of these employees have access to a managed care organisation to make sure that healthcare needs are taken care of.
Four years away from the target set for MDGs, do you see Nigeria actualising these goals in view of combating infant and maternal mortality?
What I can see is that major progress has been made by stakeholders in the health sector which needs to be commended. This progress is enough to match the MDGs. Considerable progress has been made and I believe that what I said is true. There is almost an effort to run behind the target. This is because as we try to achieve one aspect of the target, other targets are not met. You would agree with me that the challenge of meeting the needs of the additional population is no doubt a challenge. This is why I have full respect for those tasked with the challenge of meeting the country’s MDGs target. It is quite a daunting task.
What can be done to improve healthcare in Nigeria?
In Nigeria, there is a big infrastructural gap that needs to be filled. Power is a major problem which needs to be addressed urgently. Also, the issue of manpower flight needs to be addressed as many Nigerian medical practitioners are doing excellently in the Diaspora. The environment also needs to be taken into consideration as poor hygiene and pollution have negative impacts on the health of the nation.
What is shaping Pfizer’s investments in Nigeria and Africa?
What has really been shaping the investment initiatives of Pfizer in Nigeria and the African continent is the need for quality pharmaceuticals to help alleviate the huge disease burden in this environment. This shapes our investments in these locations. We, as a corporate organisation continues to invest our resources and manpower to help create a healthier world.
Role of Pfizer toward attaining the MDGs target
We have a rich corporate social responsibility which is very diverse. We are not only looking at providing drugs for specific needs like the trachoma initiative which Nigeria is benefitting from. We are also involved in a Pan African initiative. There are also a number of initiatives aimed at building capacity and capabilities. An initiative in this area is the building of an insect-vector institute in Kampala, Uganda, where many people, including Nigerians have been trained.
Another initiative that is aimed at creating a long term value is our global fellow programme. It is a programme whereby Pfizer employers are particularly allowed to work in known government agencies, in developing expertise in the healthcare sector as well as train other people locally. We, as a global organisation, not only involved in the distribution of medicines; we are also involved in clinical development, science, statistics as well as marketing and communication.
With the worrisome cases of deaths reported across the globe from pneumonia annually, there was the need to put in place machinery to reduce these indices. Don’t forget that children are more prone to pneumonia infection due to some factors such as poor living conditions, personal hygiene and other environmental factors in addition to some underlying medical conditions such as measles.
In a bid to reduce child mortality, Pfizer came up with the vaccine, under the brand name of Prevnar 13, which has been registered by NAFDAC and was formally launched in Nigeria last year. We’ve got a vaccine that can take care of almost all the serotypes of pneumococcal diseases. People should buy the vaccines themselves when it is made available in the country because it is the magic bullet (against pneumonia) we’ve been looking for.
The vaccine Prevnar 13 remains the best strategy “to close the door against the disease. Prevnar 13 is an important priority for the entire Pfizer organisation as we continue to expand our presence in the vaccine category. The approval of Prevnar 13 means that infants and young children in Nigeria will have access to a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that provides coverage against 13 serotypes that could potentially result in life-threatening illnesses.
Together, these 13 serotypes are responsible for the majority of invasive pneumococcal disease. Notably, serotype 19A is now the most common invasive disease-causing serotype in young children. Pfizer’s commitment is to be a leading voice for improving everyone’s ability to have reliable and affordable healthcare.
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