Tokunbo Abiru: Health sector has the potential to create wealth

Tokunbo Abiru, chief executive officer of Polaris Bank, says Nigeria’s health sector has immense potential to create wealth.

Speaking during a webinar hosted by the bank, he drew participants’ attention to the current state of medical services globally which according to him, are overstretched.

He said Nigeria’s case is, however, peculiar owing to what he referred to as pandemic preconditions that existed in the nation’s health sector before the outbreak of COVID-19.

“Despite these unfortunate realities, with the right policies and legislation, the health sector has the potential to create wealth for the country,” he said.

“This will include exploring ways to make medical services affordable by providing a well-defined and incentivised insurance framework to cover the formal and informal sectors. He further noted that Nigeria’s large population offers a huge demand potential for turning the health sector into a money-spinner for the country.

“If the right legislation is in place, medical tourism can be a thing of the past while providers of capital would have the comfort to bridge funding gap thus getting the sector to work optimally.”

Abiodun Oyenuga, quality assurance adviser of Medical Credit Fund, who spoke on the “Overview of the Pandemic and its Impact on Healthcare Business”, said: “There is a decrease in the ability to afford healthcare as a result of the business shutdown; loss of income and loss of jobs among several drawbacks. He however advocated for more participation from financial institutions by providing credits and financing; and also a renewed focus of Government in reviving the healthcare industry as these will gravitate towards improving patient satisfaction; as well as an increase in profit.”

On her part, Itunu Akinware, managing director, Medbury Medical Services, advocated for effective collaborations within the health sector.

“You shouldn’t let a good crisis go to waste,” she emphasized that ‘now that a lot of light has been shone on the health sector and we can see the gaps in infrastructure, processes, and systems, this is the time for all of us to work together and ensure that we can improve healthcare in Nigeria,” she said.

Speaking from the perspective of what her organization is doing differently to stay afloat despite the impact of COVID-19, Akinware said: “We have developed a three-pronged strategy: to increase or maintain revenue; reduce or re-align cost and manage cash.”

Omoshola Yusuf, divisional head, Medical & Technology, Hygeia HMO, who spoke on how the increasing cost of care is being moderated by the HMO scheme, encouraged Nigerians, employers of labour, as well as individuals, to embrace the scheme.

Segun Opeke, directorate head, Lagos business, Polaris Bank, spoke on the product offering of the bank to the health sector which he described as two-pronged: “Polaris Healthcare Loan and the CBN 100 billion healthcare support fund to cushion the impact of COVID-19 and improve the gaps/deficit in the healthcare business, going forward”.

“The Polaris Healthcare Loan has two variants: what can be available as overdraft facility for working capital purposes; purchase of consumables; discounting of invoices, etc. Interest is very competitive while Loan amount is subject to the applicant’s capacity,” Opeke explained.

“There is also the Term Loans available for renovations, expansion, purchase of equipments for hospitals, vehicles, etc. depending on what the need is. Interest rate is in single-digit.”

The webinar attracted thousands of participants from across the world comprising, individuals; business owners; students, lecturers and entrepreneurs across different sectors of the economy but majorly from the healthcare value chain.