Firms join forces to fight chronic diseases in Nigeria

The Society for Family Health (SFH) has announced its partnership with Novartis Social Business to supply medicines against chronic diseases to the poorest and most vulnerable population, with the aim of tackling the growing burden of chronic diseases in Nigeria.

According to a press statement made available to BusinessDay, SFH will distribute Novartis Access medicines to treat four of the most common chronic diseases: cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, respiratory illnesses and breast cancer.

Bright Ekweremadu, managing director of SFH, said Nigeria is increasingly affected by the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as lifestyles and habits become more sedentary.

“We have been working for more than 30 years to help Nigerians, particularly the poor and most vulnerable, to live healthier lives, including improving access to essential health services. This collaboration with Novartis Social Business is part of the solution to the challenges of the poor who are most at risk of NCDs,” Ekweremadu said.

The organisation also said that the programme will be implemented to start in eight (8) states in Nigeria, potentially reaching more than five million patients.

“Nigeria becomes the fifth country in Africa (after Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Cameroon) to sign an agreement to distribute Novartis Access treatments against chronic diseases. First treatments will start reaching patients in the upcoming months.

“In Nigeria treatments will be offered to patients through SFH at a final cost of up to 2.21 USD per patient per month,” said SFH.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) non-communicable diseases are estimated to account for 24 per cent of deaths in Nigeria.

“Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for seven per cent of deaths, Cancer accounts for three per cent of deaths, diabetes accounts for two per cent of deaths; chronic respiratory diseases account for one per cent of deaths; and other NCDs account for eleven per cent,” says WHO.

However, the country’s advancing middle-class and increasing urbanization is driving an increase in lifestyle factors which pose high risk for several NCDs, including obesity and tobacco use. 8.9 per cent of Nigerian adults are obese and more than 3.5 million adults use tobacco daily – a smoking prevalence of 17.4 per cent.

“As part of our strong commitment to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria, we are working to promote disease prevention, facilitate access to basic healthcare and life-saving medicines in both urban and rural areas. Conduct health education and awareness, and strengthen service capacity with key focus on health care facilities and workers,” said Omokhudu Idogho, DMD social business enterprise, SFH.

Idogho added that the partnership with Novartis Social Business will help SFH put its expertise and experiences behind a programme that will help poor populations get diagnosis and access to key medicines to treat chronic diseases in Nigeria, which are often responsible for catastrophic health expenditure.

Parfait Touré, Head of the West and Central African cluster for Novartis Social Business also expressed belief that “new approaches such as our Novartis Access portfolio that bring governments, the private sector and social sector together are needed to expand access to medicines and healthcare delivery in our countries.

“We are pleased to help Nigerian patients better manage their chronic conditions,” Touré added.

ANTHONIA OBOKOH