Medical Entrepreneur and Group Managing Director International Facilities Services, (IFS), Lagos, Dr Tunde Ayeye has advocated innovative finance models as a panacea to some challenges in the health sector.
Dr Adyeye made the call during his paper presentation at the 9th Kola Olafimihan College of Health Sciences Endowed Lecture of the University of Ilorin.
The Programme was entitled: “Improving Access to Quality Healthcare Delivery in a Depressed Economy.”
He observed that financing models such as Real Estate Investment Trusts can drive sustainable funding for the health sector.
The Public Health Physician calls for a holistic approach, saying that communities should be viewed as an ecosystem, where preventive care, early intervention, and education become cornerstones of health policies.
“Healthcare must transcend its current boundaries, becoming not just a service but an economic catalyst.
“By transmuting healthcare services into engines of economic growth, we can create jobs, attract investment, and foster a thriving health industry,” he said.
Dr Adeyeye also advocated for the need to redefine Public-private intervention in health, a new health economy, and turning brain drain into brain gain.
Also speaking, Prof. Suleiman Alabi, the Provost College of Health Science of the University of Ilorin, pointed out that there is a global downturn in the economy and that Nigeria is not in isolation.
“We need to find ways to have quality healthcare despite the present economy. Government has a lot of roles to do, to better our lives in terms of health insurance,” he said.
Prof. Alabi commended the government for enrolling communities and schools, especially the Kwara-Care health insurance programs in the state.
He, however, observed that more people across Nigeria needed to be captured in the health insurance program.
In her response, Mrs. Mobolaji Adeniyi, the daughter of the Late Dr Kola Olafimihan, describes her father as a distinguished medical elder.
She commended University of Ilorin for the endowment lecture organised in remembrance of her late father.
