INVESTING AND FUNDING IN THE eHEALTH SECTOR

Brief overview of eHealth

eHealth….. Is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for quality and improved health service delivery

Some forms of eHealth

 Electronic health records – enables patient data sharing Healthcare Information System - software solutions for appointment scheduling, patient data management, work schedule management and other administrative tasks surrounding health. Biomedical Engineering – IT Based equipment facilitating maintenance Computerized Physician Order Entry – Electronic diagnostic tests requests and electronic results ePrescription - electronic transmission of prescriptions from doctors to pharmacists Clinical Decision Support - electronic information about protocols and standards

Telemedicine - physical and psychological diagnosis and treatments at a distance Consumer health information - use of electronic resources on medical topics by healthy individuals or patients; Virtual healthcare teams - consisting of healthcare professionals who collaborate and share information on patients through digital equipment mHealth - use of mobile devices in collecting aggregate and patient level health data, providing healthcare information to practitioners, researchers, and patients, real-time monitoring of patient vitals, and direct provision of care (via mobile telemedicine);

INVESTMENT IN eHEALTH  May requires huge capital outlay  Continuous in nature  Presently inadequate in Nigeria

Focus on:  Policy and strategy development for and implementation of eHealth.  National eHealth policy  National ICT procurement policy for eHealth  Policy on data sharing  protection of personal data  IT infrastructure  Medical Equipment  Capacity building

Coverage:  Primary and Community based health facilities  Secondary health facilities  Tertiary health facilities  Private hospitals, clinics and maternity centres

Some eHealth projects  Implementation of OpenMRS (Medical Records System) for maternal and child healthcare.  Mobile Community Based Surveillance (MCBS) e- Health - gives traditional birth attendants the ability to report vital maternal and child health events in real time using mobile phones  A pilot project initiated by National eGovernment Strategies Ltd in 2006 to provide teleconsulting in cardiology with the use of video conferencing equipment and digitalized electrocardiography machine to Abuja communities.

FUNDING eHEALTH  Grossly inadequate for the health sector as a whole  0.35% of total credit went to the health sector as a whole as at 31 st December 2014  Few healthcare companies listed on the NSE  In 2013, the Federal government budgeted 270 billion Naira for the health sector, representing 5.5 percent of the federal budget, in 2014, the federal government budgeted N billion representing 4.4 percent of the national budget, this marked a percent drop in the actual value of the health budget and in its share of the national budget, the health budget in 2015 is 237 billion Naira and about 5.5 percent of the national budget of N4.36 trillion.’’

Sectoral Distribution of Credit (CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORT DECEMBER 2014 )June 2014 December 2014 Sector N'Billion Per cent N 'Billion Per cent Oil and gas 2, , Manufacturing 1, , General: Household ConsumerGoods/Hospitality/Religious 1, , Information and communication General commerce , Governments Real estate Construction Agriculture, forestry and fishing Finance and insurance Transportation and storage Capital market Power and energy Professional, scientific and technical activities Education Administrative and support service activities Human health and social work activities Activities of extra-territorial organizations and bodies Mining and quarrying Water supply, sewerage, waste mgt. & remediation activities Arts, entertainment and recreation Public utilities Total 10, ,

Healthcare Companies Listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange 1. Aboseldehyde Labs. PLC - Manufacturers and marketers of cosmetics, toiletries and hygiene products. 2. BCN PLC. - Manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical veterinary, toiletry and cosmetic products 3 Christlieb PLC. - Manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical products, confectionary 4 Ekocorp PLC. - Healthcare services including hospitals 5 Evans Medical PLC. - Pharmaceutical and food processing 6 Maureen Laboratories PLC. - Healthcare services 7 May & Baker PLC. - Drug manufacturing & sales 8 Pfizer Products PLC. - Drug manufacturing & sales 9 Pharma ‑ Deko PLC. - Drug manufacturing & sales 10 Smithkline Beecham Nig PLC. - Drug manufacturing & sales 11. Afrik Pharmaceutical PLC.

Major sources of funding eHealth:  Public funding  Private funding  Donor funding – None in Nigeria for now  Public-private partnerships

CONCLUSION  eHealth is essential to quality health care delivery  Investment in and funding of eHealth are also essential  Investment in developing a national policy on eHealth is paramount  The three tiers of government and the private health practitioners are expected to key into this in terms of investment and funding