Speaking at the opening ceremony
held at Eko Hotel & Exhibition Center, Lagos, he said the nation needs to
put its house in order to benefit from the increasing interests of foreign
companies in the nation’s healthcare industry.
“Healthcare is a goldmine in Nigeria
and everyone is coming,” he said.
While stating that universal
healthcare is very essential, he said Nigeria’s large population presents
investors with unique opportunities as well as challenges.
He said: “Population is an asset,
but there are numerous problems in the area of human resources.”
He therefore enjoined the foreign
companies that are participating in the exhibition and congress to focus on
building local capacity instead of compounding the brain drain problem the
health sector in Nigeria is contending with.
He reiterated the commitment of
the Lagos state government to the promotion of medical tourism in Nigeria with
the aim of developing the health sector.
In his remark, Dr. Olu Soyinka,
Ogun state commissioner of health enjoined the foreign companies participating
in the exhibition and congress to become more interested in becoming partners
and not just vendors of latest technologies.
He said the exhibitors have the technology
that can answer the questions that health professionals in Nigeria are asking. He
also called for innovative ways of financing that would enable more Nigerian medical
facilities to be able to procure the equipments on display at the congress.
He also advised discussants to
focus on issues concerning primary healthcare.
“Most basic medical equipments are
not available at the primary healthcare centers. We need your help to come up
with ways through which we can make some of the machines available at our
primary healthcare centers,” he said.
According to the organizers,
Medic West Africa is a three-day congress and exhibition “that will provide a
transparent platform for both consumers and service providers to understand the
latest trends and drivers in the healthcare industry in Nigeria and West
Africa.”
Click to view images taken at the event
Click to view images taken at the event
Your blog is thus informative … carry on the nice work!!!!
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