The World Health Organization ranked Nigeria’s healthcare system as one of the worst in the world. In a report from 2000, the country was 187 out of 191 countries.
Dr Ola Brown, Founder, Flying Doctors Nigeria, opened the keynote address at TC Townhall: The State of Health Tech in Nigeria by describing the poor condition of the country’s healthcare system. Mortality caused by road traffic in Nigeria is about 22 per 100,000 people, which is almost double that of two other developing nations, Egypt and Pakistan, which both average around 12 deaths per 100,000 people.
“Healthcare is seen as a cost. This is wrong. It’s an economic investment,” Dr Brown declared. Nigeria spends only about $6 on healthcare for each citizen.
Five major steps for reform proposed by Dr Brown include primary healthcare expansion, tertiary healthcare centralization, improving maternal and child health, task shifting and sustainable healthcare financing.
Dr Brown concluded by challenging healthcare entrepreneurs to take advantage of advances in technology to leapfrog Nigeria’s healthcare problems.
Watch Dr Ola Brown’s full presentation here: https://youtu.be/QjSGNnRrfIM
Get our deeply researched report, The State of Health Tech in Nigeria, about the health tech industry and the innovative startups working to find tech solutions to Nigeria’s health-related problems.
