The Federal Ministry of Health, yesterday, entered into an agreement with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, managers of the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, to launch a comprehensive healthcare investment programme covering all six geo-political regions of the country that will also help stem the loss of over $1 billion per year spent by Nigerians on medical tourism.
The NSIA, in a statement in Abuja, said the aim of the investment program is to catalyze private sector investment to bridge the healthcare infrastructure gap, contribute to the reduction of the disease burden and facilitate improvement of Healthcare in the country. According to the statement, the healthcare projects are being developed by the NSIA, in partnership with Federal Government Teaching Hospitals and Medical Centres (Federal Healthcare Institutions) located in each of the six geo-political regions of the country. Under the partnership, the NSIA said that specialist hospitals and modern diagnostic centres which will provide advanced medical care and modern diagnostic services are being developed. It noted that at the moment, a total of 10 Memorandum of Cooperation (MOCs) have been signed, noting, however, that six agreements are at advanced stages. Giving details of the partnership, the statement said, “NSIA has entered an Agreement with Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) to jointly develop a specialist cardiovascular hospital in Lagos. The specialist hospital is expected to provide cardiovascular treatment, including diagnostics, minimally-invasive procedures, surgery and post-surgery care in the country. “As part of the program, NSIA also secured approval from the Federal Ministry of Health to enter into a binding agreement with Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) for the development of a modern medical diagnostic centre to be co-located within the main hospital complex at Kano. NSIA recently signed a binding agreement with the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia to develop a modern medical diagnostic centre co-located within the main hospital complex in Umuahia, Abia State.” The NSIA further stated that it intends replicating similar strategies within the medical complexes of Federal Healthcare Institutions in the North-East, North-Central and the South-South zones, pursuant to the tripartite Memoranda of Cooperation signed with the Federal Ministry of Health and at least one Federal Healthcare Institution in these geo-political regions. Commenting on the partnership, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole, Minister of Health said, “These projects will attract investments into Nigeria’s healthcare sector, and demonstrate the Federal Ministry of Health’s ability to work effectively with institutions such as the NSIA. The Ministry seeks to modernize and expand Nigeria’s healthcare sector, and the projects being jointly developed with NSIA will ensure that Nigerians have access to world class medical services”. Also speaking, Mr. Uche Orji, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, NSIA said, “NSIA seeks to transform Nigeria’s healthcare sector by facilitating private sector participation, and working closely with Federal Healthcare Institutions. We expect that these investments will expand the capabilities of Federal Healthcare Institutions by providing world class equipment, and the very best in private sector operations and management. This is part of a broader set of objectives designed to help build human and institutional capacity across the healthcare sector in Nigeria.”