– To Establish Drug Revolving Fund in State
In a historic event held on 1 April , 2022, Bloom Public Health, the lead institution for the health supply chain consortium comprising, Fly Zipline Nigeria Ltd, Health Spaces Ltd & Sterling Bank Plc, has signed an MoU with the Ebonyi State Government, represented by the Ministry of Health, to establish a Drug Revolving Fund in Ebonyi State.
Under the visionary leadership of the Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, the Ebonyi State Government seeks to ensure the sustainable access and availability of safe, quality, affordable medicines and medicinal products to all residents of the state in all its health facilities.
To achieve this goal, the Ebonyi State Government has partnered with the consortium led by Bloom Public Health to implement an innovative healthcare supply chain system in Ebonyi State that will leverage cutting edge technology to centrally procure, store, manage, provide last mile distribution of pharmaceutical and other medical products to healthcare facilities across the state and ensure revenue optimisation for the state by digitisation of its healthcare facilities.
Bloom Public Health Ltd, a public health think tank that is building its reputation as one of the most credible technical partners to health-related innovations within and outside Nigeria, entered a consortium agreement with its strategic partners, Fly Zipline, Health Spaces, and Sterling Bank for the joint implementation of the Ebonyi Health Supply Chain Transformation (EHSCT) Project.
The consortium will leverage on the expertise of each player to invest its technical and financial resources in the transformation of the Ebonyi State healthcare supply chain by procuring all required pharmaceutical supplies, developing best-in-class warehousing infrastructure, providing comprehensive last mile logistics solutions and ensuring revenue optimisation for the state by digitisation of its healthcare facilities.
The Bloom Public Health team led by the CEO, Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, in the company of Dr Henry Onyemachi, country Business Lead for Zipline Nigeria and Strategic Business Advisor, Africa, and Mr Adewale Adebowale, head, Health Sector Finance, Sterling Bank Plc, arrived in Ebonyi State on Wednesday, 30 March, for a two-day tour of the major health facilities across the state. The heads of the hospitals have also affirmed their commitment to partner with the consortium for the successful implementation of the EHSCT project as it will bring a tremendous transformation to the entire healthcare system of the state and solve the challenges in sustainable access and availability of quality and affordable medicines and medicinal products for all.
The consortium team also visited the Vice-Chancellor of King David University of Medical Sciences, Ebonyi State, as it looks to partner with the university hospital for the supply of all their medicines and medical products through the DRF scheme. A courtesy visit was also paid to the Speaker of the Ebonyi House of Assembly, Hon. Francis Nwifuru, who affirmed the State's confidence in the successful implementation of the project.
According to Prof. Anyakora, the DRF project in Ebonyi State will ensure the provision of sustainable access to quality and affordable essential medicines as a critical element in implementing primary healthcare. He also stated that the project was in line with Bloom Public Health’s vision of bridging the gap in public health in Africa and creating a continent where access and quality of care are affordable to all in a sustainable way and that the company is eagerly looking forward to scaling the project across the continent.
