NESG, WEF advocate PPPs to contain disease outbreaks in Nigeria

Underutilisation of the private sector in containing disease outbreaks and other health emergencies in Nigeria has been the focus of collaboration between the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The session reiterated the importance of public-private partnerships to ward off the resurgence of epidemics such as the Ebola virus disease, which was recorded in Nigeria in 2014, and even the Lassa fever virus and other potential public health risks in the country.

“More often than not, our focus is more about the money, forgetting the fact that this (epidemic) is major because it could wipe out any money you (have) made,” Laoye Jaiyeola, CEO, NESG, said.

Jaiyeola also reiterated the need for private sector to be actively involved, more than previously recorded efforts, in supporting public health efforts when epidemics need to be contained, noting it is in the best interest of businesses to ensure the societies remain healthy for them to also thrive and be healthy.

Similarly, David Karr, senior advisor, partnerships for Global Health and Healthcare at WEF, recalls during the intervention in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak that;  “in Sierra Leone, the private sector was desperate to assist for three reasons; to protect their investments, protect their employees, and ensuring business continuity. This gave businesses the feeling that they were properly engaged and consulted as a genuine partner in planning and response to Ebola.

“It is at the same time very unfortunate because we recognise now that the private sector was very underutilised and we lost a of time before getting humanitarian support up to the level where the crisis could have been adequately addressed,” said Karr.

Discussions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting last year, highlighted a strong desire from stakeholders across governments, businesses, international organisations and NGOs to examine the wide scope of partnerships and innovations that occurred during the Ebola crisis in order to propose practical ideas for future responses through public-private partnership efforts.

WEF’s consultation in Nigeria is premised on the need to share the mandate and concept of the initiative as well as lessons learned from other country settings to gather feedback on its applicability and utility in Nigeria. It also includes understanding current or projected efforts at the federal or state level for the preparedness and response of future epidemics, and assesses areas of convergence.

Benjamin Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Director of First consultants medical centre while sharing from the hospital’s experiences during the Ebola outbreak in which the index case was admitted at the facility, called for more concerted effort from the government in preparedness against future occurrences.

Ohiaeri also expressed displeasure at the lack of support from authorities at the federal level; in assisting the hospital regain its balance following the Ebola epidemic.