-As NMA, PSN, NANNM, sign MoU
Poised to pragmatically drive cooperation among all healthcare professionals in the country, the leadership of the Nigerian healthcare team, comprising President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Mike Ogirima; President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai; and President of the Nigerian Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Comrade Abdulrafiu Adeniji, have recently endorsed the recently launched IQVIA HCP virtual space as the long awaited collaborative instrument to bring about the desired change in the Nigerian healthcare system.
In addition to lauding the healthcare professional digital networking platform, the healthcare team leaders also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to prove their unalloyed commitment to teamwork in the industry.
The health professionals took this bold step at the official launch of the IQVIA HCP Space, held at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel Ikeja, on 6 February, 2018, under the distinguished chairmanship of Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi.
Chairman, IQVIA HCP Space, Dr Femi Olugbile, while welcoming guests at the event, noted the aptness of the launch of the digital platform at a time when global healthcare delivery is expected to experience a disruption from the partnership of three global market forces of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.
Updating the healthcare professionals on global trends in the industry, he said Amazon, the online retail giant known for disrupting major industries; Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company led by the billionaire investor, Warren E. Buffett; and JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States by assets, have signed up a partnership for technology-based healthcare delivery, in order to overtake traditional healthcare providers.
According to Olugbile, a former chief medical director of LASUTH, Nigerian healthcare practitioners therefore need to take their professionalism beyond the four corners of their consulting rooms into the digital space, as this is the only way they can outsmart non-healthcare providers trying to gain entrance into the service of healthcare delivery across the world.
On his part, Chairman of the event, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, explained how the newly launched digital platform answered the puzzle of over 35 years on how to build a bridge across all the healthcare professionals in the country.
“The story of IQVIA HCP Space simply put paid to my search of many years,” he says.
He noted that the platform will put a stop gap to the consumption of misleading health information on the internet by Nigerians, adding that it would offer patients reliable health information on their conditions and the best ways to go about treatment for their ailments.
The IQVIA Country Manager, Pharm. Remi Adeseun, in an exclusive chat with Pharmanews, explained the objectives of the platform. “The IQVIA HCP Space is the digital health technological platform, to provide that opportunity in a conducive virtual environment for verified healthcare professionals. The idea is networking, not just within healthcare profession but between healthcare professions.
“This is coming from the background of an inter-professional collaboration symposium organised by the Nigeria Academy of pharmacy, where all the major healthcare professionals were present, with keynote address presented by a former minister of health, Prof Eyintayo Lambo, under the chairmanship of Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi.
“The feat was achieved and a communiqué was signed, where healthcare professionals agreed to collaborate. Many times after intentions are generated, it is discovered that there are usually no tools to walk the talk. That is what HCP Space is all about. It’s a practical tool to help healthcare professionals actualise the desired objective of collaboration.” Asked about the modalities to coordinate operations on the platform to avoid conflict of interests, he said conflict would always be welcomed, but it is how it is managed that makes the difference.
He said: “To distinguish a civilised environment from a rural community, the demonstration of the ability not to allow conflict to degenerate into combat, will be highly needed. Conflict in itself helps to refine thought processes conducted in a civilised manner. Opinions cannot be masqueraded as facts, and while opinions are free, facts are sacred.Without attempting to curtail speech, there will be regulations. That is why the environment itself has the presence of the regulators. We have the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), we have the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). A profession is known, among other things, for the ethics and rules of conducts guiding it. Thus, there will be consequences for the flouting of those rules.
“So, that being kept in mind, people will be mindful of their behaviour. But more importantly, we are talking of very well-educated people here, and that is why we are saying that your regulator must approve of your licence before you are allow to be a participant. We also have an advisory board that will always ensure that communication is well coordinated on the platform”, he stated.
The representative of the President of the Nigerian Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) Comrade Olurotimi Awojide, conveyed the views of nurses to the audience, stating that they were ready for collaboration. He however posed a request to the healthcare team leadership, asking them to brainstorm on how to rid the nursing profession of quackery, which he said had been a big challenge for them in the profession. He was expressed that the establishment of the platform would generate bright ideas on how to sanitise the environment against quackery.
